Four Seasons in Five Senses: Things Worth Savoring - Softcover

"Masumoto has written compellingly about life on his family farm in the Central Valley and his struggles to stay in business." -- Christina Eng "Interweaved into the exquisite and sometimes heartbreaking descriptions of nurturing fruit to harvest are sketches of Masumoto's [family]." -- Elaine Iwano "Masumoto paints pictures with the simple words of a farmer." -- Linda Kincaid "Mas's new book is about slowing down and savoring your senses." -- Bart Ripp "Masumoto lyrically describes life on his organic farm through each of his five senses." -- Sarah Gianelli "Masumoto writes about his prized crops with missionary zeal and a poetic sensibility." -- David Takami "Writing lovingly, lyrically...Masumoto passionately engages every fiber of his being [in] bringing the land to life for his readers...Through his eyes we see the translucence of peach blossoms about to burst. Through his ears, we hear a symphony as his shovel uproots encroaching weeds. His hands pluck a ripe peach and we brush away the dew, breathe in its musky aroma. He takes a bite and we drink in its nectar as we would fine wine." "Intense, sensuous, lyrical, shaped by the sensibility of a poet and the eye of a farmer." "An agreeable reader for anyone who enjoys food and quality of life." "Vivid and compelling...Masumoto might well have called this book Simple Pleasures."

Rushing from one thing to another, we lose sight of the art of living, which for California farmer David Mas Masumoto is also the art of farming. Not fast farming, of the kind that produces fast food, but slow farming, the kind that notices each change of light and temperature and produces peaches with juice that runs down your chin. On the farm, appreciating the fruits of one's own labor requires all the senses: smell that knows when a peach is ready to be picked; sight that observes the health of a season's crop; touch that measures the weight of a fruit; hearing that recognizes each voice that calls out across the fields; and taste that savors the refreshing tang of a fruit at that perfect moment of ripeness. Taking us into his fields to witness the cycle of the harvest, Masumoto reminds us that we must stop living on the run in order to savor the world around us.