Harvest Son: Planting Roots in American Soil - Tapa dura

This is a book about working alongside the ghosts of generations past, whether pruning vines or surviving a storm; about valuing the knowledge of old farmers; about taking on a leadership role in the local California Buddhist community where Masumoto is one of the few left to bury the old-timers. It is about the search for roots in the tragic history of the internment camps, and in the still-living rural culture of Japan, where Masumoto tells of visiting his grandmother's native village and working in ancient rice paddies. And it is about renewal: reinvigorating the family farm with new-old organic farming techniques, finding new uses for rusty tools left behind in the shed, starting a culturally blended family and teaching children the work and play of life on the farm. By knitting together past and future, Masumoto achieves a rare and essential harmony - holding on to what matters, despite the pressures of time and change.

Epitaph for a Peach -- David Mas Masumoto's successful and critically acclaimed first book -- grew out of his attempt to save his orchard of old-fashioned juicy peaches from replacement by a more commercially viable brand. His glorious new book, Harvest Son, is about taking over and renewing the family farm.In prose of zen-like calm and clarity, Masumoto relates how he learned to prune vines and survive a storm; to value the knowledge of old farmers and the rusty tools forgotten in the shed; and to take on a leadership role in his Buddhist community. He also shares life vividly in the present: how it feels really to sweat while you work; the way dust cakes on your neck when you're driving a tractor; the pleasure of rinsing off under a cold faucet; a grandmother's joy at hearing that her grandson will visit her birthplace; the way grapes are dried into raisins; and the way a family works together in the fields.Masumoto celebrates the continuity in which he harvests grapes from the vines that his grandfather planted. He also mourns the losses suffered during the Japanese-American internment before he was born. But by knitting together past and future, he holds on to what matters, despite the pressures of change.