When a fifty-something couple flees the city for a slower, simpler, and more serene lifestyle, they discover that simplicity can get awfully complicated...and life becomes anything but serene. In this heartwarming, true-life story for gardeners, nature-lovers, and dreamers of all ages, follow the couple's midlife pursuit of the “new” Great American Dream—living closer to the land—as they transform an old clearcut into a little homestead. Book 2 of the series, Little Farm Homegrown, is now available in ebook and print!

Here's more about Little Farm Book 1: When Susan and her husband John first conceived the notion of having a country place, they were settled into a convenient home in the city, happily raising vegetables in the back yard. Being experienced gardeners, Susan and John figured that relocating would be no big deal—they’d expand the garden a little, have a bit more peace and quiet. So they bought 10 acres in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and prepared to pretty much transfer that comfortable town life to the new property.

But this doable-sounding plan becomes an adventure that is more life-changing than they could have ever imagined. Susan and John slowly learn that making your dreams come true often means dialing down your expectations…and that getting from A to B of your vision is not always a straight line.

Besides all this dream-downsizing, once the couple moves to their little homestead, they find so much to this new life that they have never faced before—like the back-breaking labor of breaking ground by hand and wildlife predation of their first crops. Despite a tight budget and many roadblocks along the way, Susan and her husband must also cope with unexpected adversity like isolation, infrastructure failures, and extreme weather--yet this uplifting story is ultimately about love and family.

Little Farm in the Foothills is not a memoir about farming…it’s a warmhearted story of making a dream come true. As Susan writes of their Foothills home, “it’s not a farm, it’s not even a farmette, but it’s the dream of a farm.”

Praise for Little Farm in the Foothills:
“The Browne’s foray into slower living...is an enjoyable read. Their delightful, yet very real, experiences in making the big leap toward their dreams make for a humorous and charming book.” —Washington State Librarian Jan Walsh

“A delightful account.” The Bellingham Herald.

See www.littlefarminthefoothills.blogspot.com for chicken tales, recipes and gardening tips from Berryridge Farm! If you enjoy family-friendly stories set in the Pacific Northwest, you might check out Susan's Morgan Carey series, fantasy-adventures for tweens featuring ghosts, fairies, magic spells...and The Goonies Anniversary Celebration. Susan is also the author of the Irish Village of Ballydara series, stories of love, friendship and family set in the countryside of County Galway. The latest novel of the series, The Galway Girls, features fictional chicken tales along with love stories in the close-knit little community of Ballydara!