Book Review: People with Dirty Hands

People with Dirty Hands: The Passion for Gardening is a book of naked gardener Truths. Author Robin Chotzinoff reveals her shortcomings up front and relates that it is the adventure of gardening that attracts her and not the perfection of it. Robin allows us to visit others' gardens through her eyes as she takes off on exciting journeys across the United States -- season after season -- constantly seeking gardeners' wisdom while learning about different gardeners' styles, plant preferences, and reasons for gardening. She visits friends and strangers and seems to reach out to those whose gardens attract her by word of mouth. Chartzinoff reminds us that gardening is a never ending learning process and a constant adventure.

Chotzinoff flits from topic to topic and I sometimes find her transitions jilted. However, the book consistently brings me back on track when she dives to the heart of gardeners' desires and sense of purpose. Her focus on what drives gardeners brings her from New Mexican hot peppers to Maine perennials. She discusses people's passions for individual plants, their love of landscape, and their reasons for loving the act of gardening itself. She discusses how varieties of personalities are attracted to gardening for a variety of reasons. She relates how people bond with nature and how the garden allows us to step outside of ourselves and our real lives. When we commune with what we grow, we find freedom from whatever ails us and bond with something that heals.

At times, Chotzinoff's imagery is poetic and passionate in paragraphs such as: "I did not grow up in the presence of direct light. We lived nine floors up in a very nice nine-room Manhattan apartment on the Upper West Side. The only way to see the sky was to open the window wide and stick your head out far enough to look straight up." This type of exaggeration is especially appealing and strikes me. I grew up in New York and see this as a typically New Yorker view of the world. Chotzinoff's humor ranges from subtle to sarcastic and comfortably tickles my funny bone. Both Chotzinoff and I have left our "native land," but our New York roots are still firmly grounded. I also appreciate her description of her relaxed gardening style. she reminds me that it is okay for my garden to be as at is. One must appreciate one's garden just for its existence, wherever it is, whatever form it takes.

I found most appealing Chotzinoff's chapter entitled "Long Island Roots." Here she seems most honest and relaxed as she relates her relationship to her Aunt Cookie who was and is the impetus for Robin's own gardening. Within the chapter, she describes the wisdom Aunt Cookie imparts and how her own love of gardening grew as she watched her beloved Aunt. The chapter discusses the correspondence of niece and aunt and the things that Chotzinoff has learned from their garden talks including "You really have no control over a garden. You may think you do, but you don't." She talks about the comparing gardening notes, acknowledging what you don't know and living with it, how gardening is cathartic, and how the imperfect garden is perfect in its personal nature.

In short, this book provides a strong sense of a community of gardeners, including friends, strangers, legends, and relations. No matter how we differ in what we grow, where we live, what land we tend, or our circumstances, a good gardener learns to go with the flow. We can all relate to that true passion for gardening and how dirty hands bring us peace. Thank you to Carol from May Dream Gardens for adding this book to her book club.

Let It Rot! (For composting beginners)

My three bin composting system placed near my garden for easy application and an insider's view of my beautiful rotting mess.

Are you seeking a simple explanation for creating your own compost? I recommend the book "Let It Rot." It treats composting as an art, not a science. It suggests various methods to follow for composting and provides troubleshooting. The troubleshooting is particularly helpful for heavily right-brained thinkers like me. (Place me in the category of those who may be turned off by some long-winded explanations of the chemistry for proper composting. I enjoy experimenting, but not detailed directions or recipes to reach my goals.) Instead, the book suggests things such as, if your compost is too wet, add dry leaves and grass. (AHHHH! I can do that!) I had been "composting" in a large garbage pail for two years. It was smelly and nothing was getting accomplished -- at least nothing useful for the garden. My problem? I needed air holes to promote circulation. Now that I know this I recognize that it is common sense, but I did not have the common sense to figure it out! (I transferred my compost to a new bin in which I could punch holes. After making the proper circulation, my yard smelled for two weeks. Unfortunately, the bins are located near my daughter's play area. The poor little girl did not want to go on her swing. I told her why it smelled and what the problem was and that I was going to fix it. The dear little girl volunteered to help, carrying dried bits to the pail and holding her nose while she dumped them in. Note: Unless you want to put up with the odor for weeks, do not punch holes in a closed container filled with acridic smelling, rotting vegetables!)

Here are some more helpful tips:
- turn your compost often, but not too often, so that you retain the heat necessary for descent composting (Did you even think about needing heat?)
- add some friendly microbes from you friendly neighborhood garden center or a little manure to get the process under way
- keep the pile moist, but not too moist
- good compost doesn't smell! Finished compost should be sweet and earthy
- there are many types of containers or lack thereof for composting (read the book and he'll explain)
- add as much as you can or want - grass clippings, newspaper, veggie leftovers, weeds (Did you know that some people even raid other people's garbage to get more for their compost bin? I'm not at this stage yet and think I'm probably lucky enough to produce enough unwanted organic matter that I will probably never get to this stage.)
-Chop up pieces as much as you can for faster decay. (Again, this makes perfect sense for by increasing surface area you allow the organisms to work on more parts, but I never thought to do it before this book.)
-Though compost is great for the garden, you will generally need to still add fertilizer as compost will not provide enough nutrients alone for your plants.
- Have fun with it. Yes, really, have fun. It is deeply satisfying to see smell my less odiferous compost and to see the newspaper pieces transforming into something else.

Despite not raiding others' garbage, I do feel myself becoming a composting addict. I check the pile everyday and am itching for the end stage when I can get this stuff in the garden. Maybe it is because I finally feel like my science experiment is progressing properly. Good luck and if you are new to composting too, let me know how you are making out.

Garden Bloggers Book Club

I am excited to participate in my first Garden Bloggers Bookclub. This month, one of my favorite gardeners is the focus of our reading. Elizabeth Lawrence was a wonderful gardener and writer. Well-known in the mid-twentieth century, she was an expert in her field. Most inspiring to me is the ability Elizabeth had to reach out to others. She is a symbol for the camaraderie gardeners achieve.

Lawrence corresponded with gardeners all over the country and encouraged others to send her information about what bloomed in her garden when. Her book The Little Bulbs focuses on one special relationship she had with a gardener who lived half a country away. In her preface, Lawrence state, "There are other gardens and gardeners that must enter into this tale. Some I have seen, and some I know only from letters or books, but all these gardens are as real to me as my own." She believed that, "Gardening, reading about gardening, and writing about gardening are all one; no one can garden alone."

My first exposure to Lawrence was through the recently published book Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters edited by Emily Herring Wilson. Through their personal correspondence, the book reveals the relationship of Lawrence and Katharine S. White who was the wife of famed Charlotte' Web author E.B White. (Mr. White is well-known to me and is a favorite of my daughter through this book, The Trumpet of the Swan and Stewart Little. All of his stories encourage children to respect nature, which is especially attractive to me.) As an archivist who has spent a good portion of her adult life handling original historical materials, I am especially excited by the format of Two Gardeners. Next to a diary, personal correspondence digs deepest into the psyche of the writer. It offers the reader an honest look at a person. through original documents we can form our own opinions about those we study, rather than relying on the observations of another writer.

Two Gardeners provides valuable information about the history of gardening, gardening methods, well-known gardeners from the mid twentieth century, and the book is a valuable resource for women's studies.

Here is one of my favorite excerpts. I love it for despite being acknowledged by others as an authority, Lawrence is humble. She encourages White's gardening efforts by playing down her own expertise. and states in a letter from 1959, "I can't answer your questions because I don't know the answers. Far from being an expert, I am the most causal gardener. I don't even own a spray. When things get sick I destroy them. I haven't divided daffodils for years. I just put out things and let htem take their chances. When I write about the way things should be done, I quote an expert. I am a writer. In my garden everything grows on top of everything else and I let them fight it out...I have never found any ground cover that is satisfactory for little bulbs." It gives me hope that I can be a "gardener" too. This statement encourages me to experiment and try my best. (I should also note that White too was an experienced gardener. She is best knownby gardners for her column in the New Yorker called "Onward and Upward.")

I must end this by explaining that Ms. White was a typical northern "Yankee," while Lawrence was a southerner. This divide made their relationship even more special. It shows how a garden camaraderie can bridge gaps, making geography and other incidentals irrelevant. Gardening makes our differences something to cherish and explore. I have learned this from the camaraderie I am developing with my own international garden friends on blotanical

Garden Visitors

When we think of little creatures in the garden, we sometimes focus on the bad not the good. Birds, butterflies, bees, ladybugs, praying mantis are the highlights we gardeners seek. While I have had my share of moles, japanese beetles and the like, I can sit back and enjoy this early period without them. Birds are on my mind today.

I mentioned a little while ago that I had cardinals building a nest in my cypress bush. I have been trying to avoid gardening in that area for fear of disturbing them. The bush sits out my sunroom window and this is where I do the majority of my writing. The birds keep me company. Papa bird was out all week, flitting about with food in his mouth. Mama came out for the first time in awhile yesterday. AH! And here she is again today! I wonder what is going on in that tree. Are the babies here yet? When does mom bird feel comfortable leaving the nest? Would the mom leave the dad to sit on the eggs? I haven't heard any little chirps yet, so I don't think the babies are here. ("What's Inside Amy's Head" provides interesting information about bird gestation. I need to do more research to answer all my questions though. Or, I would appreciate comments from anyone knowledgeable about the subject.)

How do birds pick their nesting sites? My friend Sara has a bird's nest above her kitchen door. The door leads toward her car port. She lives on a wooded property, which seems like it would be a better choice to me, but perhaps the birds are safe from predators in the carport.

Yesterday I visited a local garden center and found this little lady with her baby (whose beak is visible behind mama's head.) My friend Regina thought the bird was a sculpture. She sat so still on the same table as the merchandise. Regina reached out to touch her and jumped back when the morning dove blinked. I took a fast picture, but didn't want to disturb her. Was this spot less busy when the morning doves chose this home? Do they regret their choice of nesting location now?

One of my favorite children's book is "The Best Nest" by P.D. Eastman. I love all of P.D. Eastman's books, so if you haven't had the please of reading "Go, Dog, Go" and "Are You My Mama?" (another birdy classic) trot yourself to the library right now. Every grown-up and child should be acquainted with these. In "The Best Nest," mama bird testily wishes to leave their busy home. She's pregnant, so she has a right to be grumpy! Papa bird looks everywhere for the perfect place for his new family, but they end up back where they started. They learn that despite its flaws, they really do have the best nest. So, perhaps the birds know something we don't and choose their locations wisely despite the absurdity of some of the places we find them.

Daddy cardinal swooped out of the cypress with a wave of song. Mama is tucked safe inside the tree again. My cypress is too big for the spot where the previous owners planted it. I think I complained about this a few days ago, but I will never take it down. Last year, a family of bluejays had a nest here. I think I truly do have the best nesting site around.

It's Time for Fairy Houses!

A month ago my daughter informed me the Elina lives in a peony. "Ah..." I responded, "Doesn't she know about fairy houses?"

I had seen the fairy house series by Tracy Kane when I visited my local Audobon Center a few years back. So, I knew a little about fairies. I knew the time would come when I would need that book and it seems that today is the day. Elina is a much loved Barbie fairy in the Fairytopia series. My daughter is also reading about Tinkerbell's Disney fairy world. In case you are not up on your little girl contemporary literature, I should tell you that Tinkerbell is now a star unto herself. She doesn't need Peter Pan. She's got her own little world in Neverland and is surrounded by fairy friends. Then, finally, my daughter is reading about the lesser known Rainbow Magic fairies. In the Rainbow series of books, nine year old girls one day discover that they are fairies. So, you can see...If I hadn't known fairies were going to be a hot topic in my garden this spring I would have had to say that I was not paying attention.

Near our peonies, which are just starting to poke out of the ground, we piled sticks together in a teepee shape, tied string around the top, and covered it with pine branches.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, dear."

"How will Elina find our fairy house?"

"She'll smell the peony and come looking for it and since our house is right next to it, she'll find it. That's why we need to do a really good job and make it so pretty that she'll want to live here and not in the peony."

We took last year's dried flowers that I clipped from the yard to make the house "pretty."

Now, my daughter is only four, but she's a pretty bright kid. I'm know that she knows that fairies aren't real. Yet, four is that magical time when reality and make-believe mix so beautifully. We amuse our little ones imagining if the Easter bunny is tiny, but super strong so he can carry an Easter basket. Or, maybe he is big, like Daddy? (I wouldn't want to meet that bunny in a dark alley) Santa comes down the chimney to get in the house. (I like to now picture him using flue powder like they do in the Harry Potter books. And then, of course, there's the tooth fairy. My daughter has had a special pillow for this magical fairy since she was born. One day, when a tooth falls out, she will tuck it in the pillow flap so the little lady can easily find the tooth and leave my daughter a treat instead.

But the magic goes beyond the age of four when it comes to fairy gardens. Almost every true gardener I know has some kind of fairy in her garden - a statue, a doll on the windowsill looking out at, a fairy presence that she says she can feel. And why not? When we garden, the magical feeling of nature is alive all around us. A fairy is just a personification of the garden muse we feel on our shoulder when we are out in the yard deep in our own thoughts, beautifying our surroundings. I like my four-ear-old reminding me that I may be tidying up for a little fairy to appear. It's nice to think of my handiwork and cooperation with nature as part of a fairy story. I hope that my daughter never loses that innocent spirit that allows her to believe in fairies. I'm so glad that she brought them to me too.

"Read a comedy will ya?"

This morning my husband said to me, "When you are done with this book would you please read something funny?!"

His comments came after I announced to him that I think humans are stupid...I guess that's not a nice thing to say huh? But I do lump myself in with the group. So, why do I think we are all stupid? It's not totally our fault. I think in part we've been duped. We are slowly destroying our world by the things we do without giving it a second thought. I, for one, never really thought to give some of the things I do a second thought.

So, what am I now reading that brought me to the humble realization that I and most of the rest of my country is made up of stupid people? "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carlson has opened my eyes. This is something I should have read twenty years ago. Every high school student should be required to read it.

Before this book I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver's book makes a great case for buying local organic food, perhaps even growing your own. She convinced me to look a new way at my food purchases. But seeing as I am originally from NY, cynicism is in my bones. (Is that another terrible thing to say? Just how many people am I willing to offend today?) Kingsolver's tone rubbed me wrong at times. I agreed with her, but still wanted to say, "Would you get off your high horse lady?!" The book is worth a read, but be prepared to disagree with some of it.

Back to the Carlson book. Carlson's book is acclaimed for having started "the environmental movement" in the 60s. Carlson was a trained biologist and writer who was very concerned about what large chemical companies were (are) doing to the environment. She writes in a gentle style, telling it as it is, not "getting on a high horse." Her language is simplistic, so even the non-biologists can understand it. I am appalled by example after example of ways we tampered with the environment without considering the consequences in the mid-twentieth century.

More than that, the book made me start thinking about the environment today. Do I really know anything about the chemicals I use? The pesticides and fertilizers, the dish soap, the makeup? How do I know if I should believe that it is safe, even when it says so? How do I know the Roundup I used to kill the invasive weed last year isn't now in my well water? How stable is that chemical? Does it dissipate or will it now be around forever? How healthy is the soil where I plan to grow organic vegetables this year? Will they really be organic after the lawn service was here last year and who knows what happened to this land before I moved here? Beyond global warming, our planet is in danger from the inside out. If we kill the good organisms in our soils, if we pollute them with chemicals beyond repair, we will have no food to eat and water to drink. It would take millions of years for our bodies to adapt to the changes we are causing in the environment. And we wonder why so many people are getting cancer today...we wonder why so many people have food intolerances and this disorder and that disorder.

So, all this thinking is a far cry from my training as an archivist (a person who works with historical records.) I never thought I would become an environmental activist. I attended earth day rallies, composted, and cleaned up garbage in my neighborhood, but now I've heard the call to do more. I think I'm declaring it today. I am an activist. I will seek organizations to support with my time and will use my vote to save the earth and my daughter's future....then I'll go read a funny story...

(I also promise that I'll post pretty pictures tomorrow)

Little Bulbs

My mother sent me an e-mail yesterday with "The Daffodil Principle." (This story is available as a book written my Jeroldeen Edwards. Since the "Daffodil Principle" is posted all over the web, I am hoping that reiterating the story here is not copyright infringement. Please everyone, go out and buy Ms. Edwards book if you like her story. The illustrations look lovely.)

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ...

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....

Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.

If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to someone special.

I just did!

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin..

***

So, I got curious and decided to do a bit of research. I learned that this kind of story is called a glurge. "What's a glurge?" I asked myself. According to the yawictionary glurges are " Sickeningly sweet stories with a moral, often hiding slightly sinister undertones..."[none of those undertones here that I can see] "Imitative of the retching that might be induced by stories of this kind." LOL! I don't usually get taken in by "sickeningly sweet," but this is garden related so I'm a sucker. Plus mom said this story reminded her of me. How could I not get taken by something so heartfelt from my mom?!

The story also reminded me of a non-fiction book that I am reading entitled "The Little Bulbs" by Elizabeth A Lawrence. Miss Lawrence was a well-known gardener and garden author in the mid-twentieth century. She had correspondence with many gardeners around the country, including a man who maintained a plot of land that sounds a lot like the one in "The Daffodil Principle." Turns out they are not the same person. Evidently this passion for daffodils is not so rare.

I imagine myself planting one bulb at a time to achieve a yard filled with daffodils, or tulips, or hyacinth...My friend Regina, who I am working hard to turn into a gardener, nearly burst yesterday when we were in her yard and she discovered that the bulbs she planted last autumn came up. She was amazed. She decried, "There's hope for me after all! I didn't kill them! I can be a gardener!" Nothing can awaken the passion like those easy to care for, spreading bulbs. Long live "The Daffodil Principle!"

Weeds

I'm going to grow weeds this summer. In Gardening by Heart, Joyce McGreevy takes a chapter to extol the benefits of weeds as garden fillers and edibles. She discusses how plants generally regarded as weeds, such as the pale blue flax, sometimes have colors that are difficult to find in catalogs. She also discusses how weeds such as dandelions can be used in salads or made into teas for consumption. Many weeds help protect other plants in the garden by warding off bugs, encouraging beneficial wildlife, or offering shelter beneath their foliage for tender seedlings.

I'm going to be choosy about the weeds I let flourish. I am not a fan of violets. These thrive in my garden. I remember as a child digging them out of a neighbor's garden as an afternoon chore. Perhaps if I did not have that memory, I would favor the violet, but I forever have WEED and violet imprinted on my brain. And, despite the temptation of tasting a dandelion salad, I will not be allowing any dandelions in the yard for obvious reasons. I take my daughter to the local farm, which has a big field, to grab stems with puffy white heads that take flight when she blows on them.

To me, there are also flowers that others do not consider weeds that are weeds in my yard. The long stemmed variety of phlox are a big no-no in my gardens. There was a barrel full of blighted phlox when I moved to this home three years ago. I have been pulling out the stuff ever since. I see its tiny leaves poking out of the ground and I pounce on it. "AHA! OUT, OUT! You are not welcome here!"

I found it funny this past summer when some of the gardeners I interviewed for The Gardener's Soul ranted about ridding their gardens of weeds. The funniest part was that they knew they were ranting and found it funny themselves. I learned that some gardeners attacked the weeds with military might and deliberation. They could not stand to see the weeds in their gardens. And yet, other gardeners were perfectly fine with weeds. Gently removing ones that weren't to their tastes. Some would even leave a whole garden to the weeds for one season, knowing that they could always return to that patch of land to work it the following year. I realized last year that I had been removing "weeds" for years that if left alone they would have turned into something glorious - tomato plants to add interest to the perennial garden or Queen Anne's lace to add a delicate backdrop to my handpicked specimen plants.

Two of my big planned projects this year are to plant a wildflower garden and to introduce a clover lawn to the yard. My daughter and I began our wildflower garden last year by spreading seeds from milkweed pods. I am anxious to see if the plants come up. There is nothing more heavenly than the smell of milkweed and the sight of the monarchs they attract. There is also nothing more luxurious than the clover lawn a gardener showed me last year. (I think I'll write about clover lawns another day.) I am figuring out how I can fit weeds within my garden scheme and I'm changing my perspective about them.

My favorite local garden center Uncanoonuc Mountain Perennials offers many native plants. One great benefit is that they are easy to grow and quickly fill your garden space. Last year I got on the native plant bandwagon and purchased Joe Pye Weed. (I'm sure I have other natives in my gardens that I could name if I thought about, but these I bought with the intention of buying native.) These native plants (aka weeds) should thrive in my yard. They deserve some appreciation for that alone. If I can prize my choosy roses, why should I not prize my less fussy (better tempered?) plants as well? These natives don't demand attention, I should be proud to show them off as one would show off a well behaved child.

Gardening by Heart

I am reading Joyce McGreevy's book Gardening by Heart: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Garden. the book encourages everyone to garden and discusses the benefits of gardening for one's well-being. It offers advice for how to become a gardener, how to learn to stop and "smell the roses" so to speak.

McGreevy's directions and observations make me think of the gardeners I met last summer for my The Gardener's Soul project. McGreevy discusses the same themes that have come up over and over again with my gardeners:

• A garden brings happiness.
• Any plant you tend can be your garden.
• Gardening is a way for us to connect with nature and find respect for the earth.
• Gardening itself is a process. It is the act of gardening that brings us joy.
• A gardener's character is seen in the garden he/she creates.
• Our lives are filled with gardens. We just need to open our eyes and look for them
• Experience is important in the garden. We need only to pay attention to nature to be a good gardener.
• Bring all of your senses to your garden to really experience it.
• "Find what thrives for you and grow it."
• Find the corner of the garden that speaks to your soul and cherish it.
• Find a connection to nature every day, even if only for a limited time.
• We connect to generations in the garden.

When in the garden, I work hard. I sweat. I step back and take a quick look. Then, I dive in again and work some more. When I am all through, I grab my little girl and we walk around the yard together, just like my dad did with me when I was a girl. We examine plants, smells and design. We frolic. (Isn't that a lovely word? Just made for the garden...) For me, the cap on the gardening experience is writing about what I've planted or grabbing my camera to take photographs of my work. From seed to photo completes my gardening experience. The camera helps me stop and smell the roses. I remember the experience better when I had a camera in my hand to record it.

Fruit Photography and Eating Clean

Food is on my mind today. I'm still in the process of ordering my summer seeds. I've got the bio-dome picked out for my vegetables and have vowed to order it today! As I was footnoting my book this morning, I realized that I had referenced produce related topics a number of times. I am also back on the Zone Diet, which helps regulate my hormone levels and really make me a much happier person. So food seems like a good subject for the days writing...(My friend Regina is also taking me out to lunch today and I am getting very hungry!)

But what does food have to do with garden portraits? Well, beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables can be just as photogenic as colorful vibrant flowers. Strawberries are my own personal favorites for photographing. You can't beat the bright red color, the way the light plays off their sensual form and the bright green tops to cap (no pun intended) the whole thing off. When I plop down a strawberry in the middle of some flowers that really gets my creativity flowing. Slice open the fruit for another view of your fabulous subject. Apples, corn, raspberries, and kiwi are some more favored materials for my artistic endeavors. Pile them high in a bowl or let them stand on their own. Play with lighting - natural or artificial. Make pleasant shadows mimicing nature's enticing forms.

And after you photograph it you can eat it! Check out the work of my friend, fellow gardener, and photographer Lisa Allen. She is the author of Eating Clean (which is available on her web site.) She offers lots of tasty ideas for what to do with fresh from the garden produce. Thanks Lisa! (Lisa is also one of the gardeners who posed for my upcoming book The Gardener's Soul. She is a lovely and fascinating individual.)

Have a great day everyone! I'm off for some Thai food!

Onward and Upward

I received my copy of Katharine S. White's Onward and Upward in the Garden yesterday. I am enjoying it immensely. As I simultaneously read Eleanor Perenyi's Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden, I am struck by the strong voices of these women. Gardening never struck me as an opinionated arena until now.

I have a strong opinion about organic gardening. I also have strong opinions about clearcutting and massive overly green lawns. I am particularly annoyed when my neighbors water the road in the middle of a drought, especially on the one day of the month when it is raining...perhaps I do have strong opinions. And maybe now I am just finding my voice to express them. (With my apologies for any comparison you are making of me to Hillary Clinton...perhaps finding one's voice is in vogue at the moment, but I didn't think about Mrs. Clinton until after I wrote that sentence!)

It would do me good to follow the examples of Perenyi and White. Perenyi's book contains short essays about everything garden related. She gives historical information about gardening, provides practical information about growing, and relates advice that has to do with her own personal gardening experiences. She is blunt, funny, and informative.

White's book reviews garden catalogs. As an editor for the New Yorker, she wrote her annual Onward and Upward column to impart information about the products available for the upcoming growing season. Evaluating catalogs, White also analyzed the writing within them and the service of each company. She relates her own gardening experiences and discusses her preferred plants and planting methods. (Her writing is so personal that I am drawn to her. I feel almost as if her garden is mine. It helps that she seems to favor the traditional plants that I too favor and we are both New Englanders and writers.) This book is a compilation of her columns and reflects a remarkable woman.

Once again I am thinking about the camaradarie among gardeners. If you are a lone gardener, make an effort to reach out to others who share your passion or read about others who throughout time have been drawn to this remarkable past time. Realizing that your passion is shared gives you the courage to express yourself in new and profound ways. What you have to say is important. Your little garden is important. Your gardening methods and creations are unique and worth sharing. Our opinions help others learn, as their opinions help us.

A Personal Connection to Nature

I have been reading a lot of gardening books this winter. My favorite books are about people's personal experiences in the garden. I began reading these books as research for the book that I am writing. (This summer I interviewed 14 female gardeners about their gardening experiences and am writing about them. I will talk more about this in later postings.) I am finding myself deeply fascinated by these personal stories. One in particular touched me very deeply and made me reconsider my own connection to my landscape -- both indoors and out.

Judith Handelsman's Growing Myself addresses how all life is interconnected. The author talks about how she learned to better care for her plants by relating to them on a personal level. She discusses how talking to her plants helps them grow. She talks about how our positive and negative thoughts and actions affect our plants growth. She explains how it is important to respect nature for our own personal growth.

I started thinking about my houseplants. I have always considered my gardening talents to lie in my outdoor garden. I tend to kill houseplants. I forget to water them or leave them in obscure corners of the room in an attempt to "brighten" the corner. Before reading Handelsman I chose whatever houseplant struck my fancy, without consideration to how the plant would fit within my home and lifestyle. But now I understand my folly. I have begun strategically placing houseplants in spots that will make them happy -- near bright sunny windows, near each other, in places I frequent and won't forget to water them. I talk to my plants and stroke their leaves almost every day. I live with my plants and have welcomed them into my home as living entities rather than inanimate objects. My houseplants are thriving and I feel much calmer about getting through this usually dreadful winter season.

I realized that I have always felt a connection to outdoor plants. Trees especially have always been friends to me. I remember most of the trees in my life, but houseplants never impressed me in quite the same way. Handelsman talks about bringing outdoor trees in and using them to make nature a part of your life wherever you are. One story about a large sickly tree that she took on, lovingly placed in a corner of her apartment, nursed, and hung a hammock from was inspirational. For a plant is a plant whether indoors or out. I've been buying large pots to transplant my houseplants. I spread newspaper out on the floor and dip my hands into bags of potting soil. It's not quite like digging in the dirt outside, but it can warm my soul until the snows melt here in New Hampshire.