Amy Stewart had a simple dream. She wanted a garden.
When she and her husband finished graduate school, they headed west to Santa Cruz, C... read full description
When she and her husband finished graduate school, they headed west to Santa Cruz, C... read full description
reviews
Jan 19, 2009
Amanda
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I read this book in two days, getting through the first 11 pages in the time it took to go the several blocks between the library and my office building. Thoroughly enjoyable book, which I will be adding to my personal library -- her gardening tidbits sound like things I will be trying in my own garden this spring, and my interest in worms has increased quite a bit! She sounds like someone who would be an absolute delight to sit around with on a sunny afternoon with a glass of iced tea, tradin
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Jan 17, 2012
Nomad
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I read this book after I had already read 'Wicked Plants' and 'Flower Confidential'. It's Amy Stewart's first book and while it was very good, there are definately places where you can tell that it's a first effort.
Stewart is no Pollan when it comes to her garden. She is much more lacksidasical about things, sometimes her prose about 'letting the garden find it's own way' and how the'plants and seeds speak to me' can get a bit New Age-y and that can honestly get a bit annoying. Howe More...
Stewart is no Pollan when it comes to her garden. She is much more lacksidasical about things, sometimes her prose about 'letting the garden find it's own way' and how the'plants and seeds speak to me' can get a bit New Age-y and that can honestly get a bit annoying. Howe More...
Sep 03, 2011
Maria
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More like a novice gardender magazine article than a book. Really cant see why this was published. There were some comments that were specifically insulting and sophmoric - Such as her garden was seeing "more sex than a San Francisco bath house" I found especially cringe inducing. the gardening "tips" at the end of a chapter were annoying after reading that the author had torn out all of said plant because it was too difficult for her to grow. I checked this out from the libr
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May 01, 2010
Jennifer
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I really enjoyed this one - I'm already planting in my mind! I first read the author at the Garden Rant blog and found the book thru that - and I'm glad I did! I love the little projects at the end of each chapter and the love affair with the garden center! I don't agree with the author's stance on letting her cats outside (which of course leads to bird deaths) but other than that I think we'd get along splendidly!
Jun 15, 2009
Anju
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I really enjoyed this book. Stewart takes us through the first year of her first garden—every mistake and every triumph—in a voice that is engaging and entertaining. There are a lot of moments that made me laugh here, and one or two that made me tear up.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in gardening or who just wants a good read. It's especially good if you're having trouble with your garden. It's reassuring to see that other gardeners started out the same way you did: by More...
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in gardening or who just wants a good read. It's especially good if you're having trouble with your garden. It's reassuring to see that other gardeners started out the same way you did: by More...
Nov 22, 2009
Joyce
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This is a sweet little book. It's Amy's Garden at a Rented House in Santa Cruz - sometimes. But it's also sometimes funny: an heirloom tomato variety, Black From Tula? Could be an obscure Miles Davis recording, or a vodka... Amy worries that she may not be sophisticated to grow it. But she does, along with many other things. Delightful to read after my garden's safely put to bed for the winter!
Jun 21, 2010
Diane
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This is a good little book for all gardeners in search of inspiration. It has a special appeal for novice gardeners or those taking on a new project. Although, this "first garden" was situated in Santa Cruz, California, most of her experience can apply to gardens everywhere, e.g. soil preparation is crucial, compost is manna from Heaven, etc. Being a vegetarian and a lover of all living things, her organic approach will have special appeal to the like-minded, e.g. scaring away gophe
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Mar 28, 2010
Violet
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This book was amazing, and exactly what this gardener needed to read when the rain kept me out of the garden. One part touching, inspiring memoir and one part practical gardening advice, I found this book relatable (who hasn't stood nervously looking at a wall of seeds in the nursery, pretending like you didn't need advice?), informative, and inspiring. And it's by a local author, to boot!
Oct 11, 2010
William
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I heard the author speak at Boerner Botanical Gardens about one of her other books (Wicked Plants).
She is a very enthusiastic speaker with a great sense of humor.
This is a very charming book.
She builds a first garden at a house that she and her husband are renting.
Her experiences remind me of some of my own gardening adventures.
Worth reading more than once.
She is a very enthusiastic speaker with a great sense of humor.
This is a very charming book.
She builds a first garden at a house that she and her husband are renting.
Her experiences remind me of some of my own gardening adventures.
Worth reading more than once.
Jul 01, 2009
Karen
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A delightful journal of a first garden ... complete with tips, mistakes, laughs, insect problems, composting and recipes. To tempt the palate for example Dilly Green Tomatoes or Pesto. All this is told with joys possible only in the gsarden. Karen Firmin will like this one!!!
Feb 08, 2011
Lindsey
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On of those books you read and think, I could write this! I could write better than this. How on earth did this get published?
I read garden books to learn from other gardeners. This book didn't teach me a thing.
I read garden books to learn from other gardeners. This book didn't teach me a thing.
Jun 09, 2011
Terri
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I thought this book was easy to read but it didn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm to garden. Not due to anything she said being discouraging, I just didn't feel inspired. I do think a lot of people will find it interesting because it seems a new gardener's experiences are pretty universal. I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading memoirs of gardener's. If your looking to glean information though, you'd be better off reading something like The Householder's Guide to the Universe.
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May 17, 2009
Teresa
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great expectations all gardeners share, especially your very first garden with its hopes, blessings,joys,failures, and always plans for next year.
Jun 23, 2010
Jennifer
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This is a nice, easy reading gardening memoir with references to lots of familiar places in CA. I don't think I'll ever have this author's kind of passion for gardening. I'm content to put pretty annuals in a clay pot or hanging basket each summer. I love to visit beautiful gardens, but I just can't find that joy of working the soil that real gardeners always talk about.
May 29, 2011
Michelle
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As a beginner gardener, I so related to this book. Has lots of good hints in it, too!
Jun 14, 2009
Jeri
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sweet story of a woman who starts a garden and falls in lifelong love with plants and playing in the dirt.
Apr 08, 2009
Redbeebe
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Very sweet account of a young garden. You can really picture all of her experiences.
May 03, 2010
Reenee
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If your new to gardening, or thinking about starting a garden, read this book!
Oct 05, 2010
Margaret
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I first read this years ago from the library and then got myself a copy from Bookmooch. I was very pleased to see that I hadn't forgotten what a lovely book it is.
Stewart and her husband move into a small house in Santa Cruz with a small garden. A gardening novice, Stewart immediately becomes entranced with gardening, and she tells the story of how she learned to make and keep a garden in a humorous and charming style. She's also very good on the joys and hardships (tourists!) of li More...
Stewart and her husband move into a small house in Santa Cruz with a small garden. A gardening novice, Stewart immediately becomes entranced with gardening, and she tells the story of how she learned to make and keep a garden in a humorous and charming style. She's also very good on the joys and hardships (tourists!) of li More...
Sep 15, 2007
Joanna
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I didn't know until just now that this book is from the author of Flower Confidential. I read it some time ago and loved it. It's the story of a first time gardener building her first garden, and the conversational tone with which she describes the excitement and dismay that a first garden engenders makes me feel we have been friends forever. I really like this Amy Stewart! This is a great book for anyone who wants to garden. She is realistic about the challenges and joyous about the triump
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Jun 06, 2010
Ruhegeist
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Totally, utterly relatable. Reading this makes me long that much more for my own garden but, unfortunately, I'm set back from the chance to start my own first garden. Thankfully I have other options to channel that longing. Some wonderful tips from Stewart. Nice light, humorous read with a little education mixed in.
Mom's borrowing it. My grandparents were farmers, my parents therefore have so much experience and Dad still his own little garden plot in the back...I wonder what More...
Mom's borrowing it. My grandparents were farmers, my parents therefore have so much experience and Dad still his own little garden plot in the back...I wonder what More...
Apr 22, 2009
Maura
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Highly recommend for gardeners. I thought the book was sweet, and it offers some good, basic advice too for the beginning gardener.
Apr 04, 2009
Marilyn
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I am going to plant my vegetables this year for the first time and this book was fun to read in anticipation of my own "first garden". Although I
live in the Midwest I was on vacation in Napa when I read this book. That really put a different spin on it for me--I felt closer to the story and the setting. The last chapter was a bit strange and I'm not sure who the letter was intended for--it left me wondering what happened to her garden.
live in the Midwest I was on vacation in Napa when I read this book. That really put a different spin on it for me--I felt closer to the story and the setting. The last chapter was a bit strange and I'm not sure who the letter was intended for--it left me wondering what happened to her garden.
Sep 28, 2007
Tina
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This is a cute book. It is an expression of joys in one womans life and the attempts to making and keeping a garden. It is based on the authors life and the tales of her seeking to have a garden. She talks about her triumphs and her multitude of gardening sins, as she calls them,with gardening. She also give wonderful gardening tips through out the book. This is a must read for any woman who LOVES to garden.
Aug 01, 2011
Bernadette
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I absolutely loved this book and I'm not that devoted a gardener. Amy Stewart is a delightfully honest writer. Her humorous observations of the people and plants she encounters in creating her first CA garden are priceless. I can't wait to read her next book about her new garden in Eureka, CA
May 20, 2010
Heather
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This was a great book! Wonderful writing style, hilarious account of a woman's first garden. How hard can gardening be? You just stick a plant in the ground and water it, right? The author is very insightful and full of humerous observations about gardening.
Oct 17, 2011
Irene
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Excellent journal of her gardening experiences in Santa Cruz. Humorous as well as moving. Each chapter ends with helpful gardening strategies or family recipes. Read it twice, I loved it so much!
Jan 10, 2008
Leslie
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If you've ever tried to start a garden, this book will crack you up. And make you wish you could grow the plants that grow in California!
