Slow Flowers by Debra Prinzing is the perfect book to be browsing through on this frigid day. The temperature is only 20 degrees, but the sun is brilliant and the ground sparkles with frozen snow crystals. As I turn the pages of the sumptuously illustrated book, my own summer garden exists in my imagination as it never has before. Debra's 52 weeks of bouquets from local flowers from 'garden, meadow and farm' are full of surprises and inspiration…
I guess the Good Reading Roundup continues here in my Between the Rows column for Dec. 14. The vegetable garden has been put to bed, and right now is neatly covered with an inch of snow and ice. The planting, cultivating, harvesting and preserving seasons are past; now we are in reading season. For me, plans to make things better usually start right about the time I am in mid-harvest. And there are always…
This is my first Reading Roundup. Over the year I have 'reviewed' a number of books, any of which would make an excellent holiday gift. Good reading is one of my favorites gifts to give, and to receive. Over the next couple of days I'll be giving a note about each of them again, with a link to the original post. All but one of the books were sent to me by the publisher and you may note…
Betsy Johnson is our winner! Practically a neighbor over there in Williamstown. Timber Press will send Seeing Flowers directly after I have her address, and I'll be sending her The Roses at the End of the Road. Everyone can order their own copy of The Roses at the End of the Road, or a copy to give as a gift to anyone who loves roses or tales of life in the country by emailing me at commonweeder@gmail.com or…
Beatrix Potter is known to almost every parent, but not as well known as her most famous creation, Peter Rabbit. In Marta McDowell’s new book Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: the plants and places that inspired the classic children’s tales (Timber Press $24.95) we meet Peter’s progenitor. In 1890, the 24 year old Beatrix bought Benjamin Bouncer at a pet shop and used him as the model for Peter for some paintings that she sold. That was the…
Seeing Flowers: Discover the Hidden Life of Flowers with amazing photographs by Robert Llewellyn and charming essays by Teri Dunn Chace, is a beautiful companion to the stunning Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees which also features Robert Llewellyn's unique photographic process. The book, and a gorgeous 16 x 24 gallery quality print to celebrate the release of this book by Timber Press is being given away to some flower lover. All you have to do is click…
When I began reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, the famous author of the autobiographical Eat, Pray, Love, I expected a story that would involve herbal medicine. Instead I got an nineteenth century story that included a highly profitable pharmaceutical business, a passionate botanizing heroine, desire, travels around the world, a charismatic man named Tomorrow Morning and a struggle between science and religion. Like many gardeners I enjoy novels that include a garden, whether in a mystery, or in some…
Deborah Madison is well known as a chef, and queen of vegetables. In Vegetable Literacy (Ten Speed Press $40) her new cookbook, I learned she had never been much of a gardener until her mid-thirties. I have always said that a walk down the garden path is a walk into the fields of history, literature, myth and science. In the beautifully illustrated Vegetable Literacy, Madison takes us along on her journey from the kitchen into the vegetable garden,…
Dogs and cats are so 20th century. Chickens are the new trend in ‘pets.’ They are colorful, cheerful, easy to care for, and productive. Think of all those fresh eggs! Dogs only give you sticks you have thrown for them to bring back. OK, sometimes they bring you the newspaper, too. Cats are too independent to bring you anything. Of course, chickens have different needs than a dog or cat if you are going to include them in…
'How (and why) to Eat Invasive Species by chef Bun Lai in the new issue of Scientific American proposes an answer to the economic damage ($120 billion a year) that invasive species cause. Eat them. Eat the wild boar, the lionfish and Japanese knotweed. Turn them into thin-sliced hot meat drizzled with ginger, garlic,roasted sesame and sauvignon blanc soy sauce, or thinly sliced raw lionfish sprinkled with lime juice, seven kinds of crushed peppers, roasted seaweed flakes, toasted sesame seeds…