
The Growing Season
How I Built a New Life - and Saved an American Farm
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Narrated by:
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Sarah Frey
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By:
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Sarah Frey
“A gutsy success story” (The New York Times Book Review) about one tenacious woman’s journey to escape rural poverty and create a billion-dollar farming business - without ever leaving the land she loves
The youngest of her parents’ combined 21 children, Sarah Frey grew up on a struggling farm in southern Illinois, often having to grow, catch, or hunt her own dinner alongside her brothers. She spent much of her early childhood dreaming of running away to the big city - or really anywhere with central heating. At 15, she moved out of her family home and started her own fresh produce delivery business with nothing more than an old pickup truck.
Two years later, when the family farm faced inevitable foreclosure, Frey gave up on her dreams of escape, took over the farm, and created her own produce company. Refusing to play by traditional rules, at 17 she began talking her way into suit-filled boardrooms, making deals with the nation’s largest retailers. Her early negotiations became so legendary that Harvard Business School published some of her deals as case studies, which have turned out to be favorites among its students.
Today, her family-operated company, Frey Farms, has become one of America’s largest fresh produce growers and shippers, with farmland spread across seven states. Thanks to the millions of melons and pumpkins she sells annually, Frey has been dubbed “America’s Pumpkin Queen” by the national press.
The Growing Season tells the inspiring story of how a scrappy rural childhood gave Frey the grit and resiliency to take risks that paid off in unexpected ways. Rather than leaving her community, she found adventure and opportunity in one of the most forgotten parts of our country. With fearlessness and creativity, she literally dug her destiny out of the dirt.
©2020 Sarah Frey (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"“Riveting . . . Intensely memorable . . . Persistence, candor, and confidence are at the heart of all [Sarah Frey’s] interactions, whether it’s talking her way into a meeting with a reluctant fruit seller or confronting a bank that mistreats her Mexican seasonal workers.”—The Boston Globe
“Through tragedies and setbacks, Frey has remained resolute and devoted to her business and family. Her charisma and chutzpah leap off the page.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A remarkable story about perseverance and innovation.”—Forbes
Inspiring Story
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Outstanding.
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Insightful and inspiring
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Women, you need to read this, have your teen girls also listen. Her willingness to tell her personal story with such humor and unflinching honesty will most certainly move you and reaffirm that there are special people that make the world better just for being here.
Small town Farm girl; Humble means, and Huge vision
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Amazingly Beautiful!
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who loves food, and who is connected to nature.
Lovely.
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One of the best stories I have read in awhile.
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Inspirational
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She also provides excellent insight on raising children with self confidence who aren't afraid to think for themselves and accept the consequences, both good and bad, for their actions.
I highly recommend it.
Well written and narrated
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i am so thankful to hear your story
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