Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival

by Alice Vincent

Women have always gardened, but our stories have been buried with our work. Alice Vincent is one a quest to change that: to understand what encourages women to go out, work the soil, plant seeds and nurture them, even when so many other responsibilities sit upon their shoulders. To recover the histories that have been lost among the soil and to understand women's lives, their gardens and what the ground has offered them.

Wise, curious and sensitive, Why Women Grow follows Alice in her search for answers, with inquisitive fronds reaching and curling around the intimate anecdotes of others.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Nature, Gardening, Essays, Womens, Memoir

282 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2023

Reviews

[Claireapagado · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bored the tits off me with about 20 interesting/insightful pages. Hardly any nitty gritty of gardening, danced round the content of her interviews. Basically a book catering to a certain kind of woman who makes London and being uncertain about having kids in their 30s personality traits. Covers nice though innit?!

[Sandy Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've mixed feelings on this book, it has a great premise and it's beautifully written but not enough diversity of differing women for me, although the prison garden was interesting. I read this book for a book club, and I'm clearly not the target audience as I can't even keep a plastic houseplant, so it's a not for me but I do have one particular friend who I think would love this book. It has a beautiful cover, and I can see it's appeal/beauty but it's not for me.

[Nada · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might have been good if it was written by someone else. Her voice and insights just didn’t resonate with me.

Sure, she tried to gather and show many different stories and (female) perspectives regarding gardening, and many of those stories are exciting, and the women behind them interesting; but it felt near impossible to get to them without the author constantly getting in the way. She wraps up every interview with how the life story of the woman in question reflects back to her own experience and problems.

This structure is so prevailing, so uniform, that it feels like you are talking to a person that follows everything you say with “But listen what happened to ME…”

At one point she says she felt, in the midst of a climate catastrophe and civil rights movement, her own gardening felt like an overindulgence, a privilege. So she went out and interviewed those who gardened to “challenge larger societal structures”.

Many times she returns to this idea of privilege, but coming from a country where there is no real translation for “gardening” - it’s either “growing food” or “tending the fields” or something - it felt that thinking of gardening as a way of challenging societal structures and capitalism and food supply chains is a huge luxury in itself; it happens when you have a surplus. It seems like she’s obsessed with being as PC as possible; checking her own privilege; that she can’t see the forest from the tree. That makes this book very trendy, and timely, but sadly that’s where it ends - it could have been an article.

It just seems silly writing a passage that takes note of privilege, and then circling back to your own problems of not being sure if you want a child or not (being physically and financially able to do so); of lamenting your clubbing years lost to COVID; of how you are not sure if you are losing your independence by living in a large house in London with your husband. It would be better if she stirred away from either trying to be woke and understand societal problems, or her personal drama because it just comes off as insensitive and self-centered in comparison.

[Emma.catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

To start with I actually thought I’d picked up a fiction book as it reads that way, however, this is in fact a non-fiction read, and very well written at that!

Alice Vincent (the author) is on a mission…

She is determined to understand what it is that makes women of all ages, from across the globe, get their hands in the soil and start planting. As the seasons went by, she connected with a multitude of other women to hear their open heartened stories of why we women choose to get outside…

After a longgggg winter and very ill health, reading this book instantly made me want to get back in the garden again. It’s way too cold and not much would grow yet but I can feel it bubbling on the horizon…an exciting prospect for the year to come.

Tell me what you think I should grow this year???? (Bare in mind I live in Northern Ireland so nothing tropicals please)

Alice meets many inspiring women to talk about their stories of ‘soil, sisterhood and survival’…

She meets up with many many women but perhaps my favourite was a lady called Martha who is living my dream…”Martha ushers me into her cabin and it is gorgeous: a happy explosion of blankets and trinkets and jars of things on open shelves. An innately female nest. Her bed faces a picture window out to the gardens……” I could honestly go on quoting the whole book lol 😂

Whilst another lady, Sui, said “ I always had that sense that I was just passing here. I’m just after this and I’m going to enjoy it and hopefully do right right by it while I’m here” - in a Biblical sense this is all about being a steward to the earth that God created for us. 🌎✝️

It is also important to remember that women gardened before it was for beauty, they gardened to heal; St. John’s wort, lupins and nettles,to name a few. In Tudor times they were known as ‘Herb Women’ - I loved that! I want to be known as a Herb Woman! There is something so strong, yet giving, loving and providing about that phrase.

One aspect of gardening that Alice points out is…“Perseverance is crucial in tending to a garden but it is also overlooked” - this is so true. When people ask me about my successes in the garden I tell them a few things:
1. Experiment - it is not always something you can control, even with a temperature set greenhouse. Buy seeds, they are cheap, chuck the in a box with some soil and water and see what you end up with
2. Try and try again - this is where the perseverance and determination come into play. If nothing pops it’s head up, change the soil texture/temperature/watering/food slightly and see what you get
3. Beware of the birds - sometimes you are doing everything right for germinating and then the birds swoop down and steal them; don’t be discouraged, they are just feeding, all we can do is once again, just try again by putting more seed down and if you are really struggling cover the area.

I adored this book from start to finish. And can’t wait to get Ito the garden in my wheelchair when the weather warms up. I am also keen to read another book that sounds similar called Drawn to the garden

The epilogue had me in tears. It was so beautiful and so true. 🥰

Whatever happens, I will always return to the Earth . 🌱

[Stella · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Where to even begin with this book. Firstly, I'll say that it is a lovely book, with simple writing, and I am certainly glad I read this. However, I must also say that I was disappointed as I expected more from this book, as this topic has SO much potential, that I feel was greatly wasted in these pages.

I did skim through the last third of the book, as after a while I started wondering why it still felt like the author was saying the same exact things that she was at the beginning, and why it still felt like I was reading the introduction of a work rather than unraveling the core of it.

Reading this book felt like finding a good amount of beautiful insights and reflections that got you excited, only to leave you feel extremely unsatisfied and wishing there was more (not in a good way), because it was all just left at aphorism booklet level, among a whole lot of other rather boring and unnecessary information. I wish there was less telling us about how she found these people and describing all the steps they took around their gardens and listing all the flowers they planted, and more diving deep into the concepts that were revealed. The description got redundant and after the first quarter of the book it just felt like empty rambling about things she already had said before, and honestly did not add anything valuable to the book at all.

This book was more about the writer telling her experience interviewing these women, rather than truly diving deep and finding a deeper understanding of the concepts that she set out the intention to write about. This book barely scratched the surface of some really beautiful and meaningful concepts that it brought up, which was such a waste of potential and such a pity.

I wish there would have been more reflecting and going into depth of these beautiful concepts that were mentioned, diving deeper and escavating their core meanings and experiences and less walking the reader endlessly through the process of how she gathered the information and content for this book, basically.

[Emily Sherwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self-serving, meandering and badly written. There are glimmers of insight that don’t ever amount to anything and thoughts and stories just stop suddenly, never to be picked up again.

Vincent is so aware of her privileges but doesn’t really seem to do anything about it, I just can’t bring myself to feel sorry for a bad writer who can afford to own a house in Brixton, knows she’s contributing to gentrification but then wax’s lyrical about how she hates it so.

[Bart Verdeyen (cafeaulivre on Youtube) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read Alice Vincent's previous book, Rootbound, I met a young woman on these pages, struggling with all of the questions women of that age have...what after you graduate? how do these relationships work? will I be finding a place to live, or even more important, a home?

In Rootbound, the author rekindles a long lost love for the outdoors and gardening, as she answers these questions as she goes along.

These days, Alice Vincent has breached her thirties and everything has changed since she wrote Rootbound. Married, moved to a house, a home and as importantly, a garden. But with these changes, new questions arise...questions around womanhood, motherhood and how not to lose oneself in all what society seems to ask and expect.

So she turns to women all around the country...women with different stories, all separated by time, space, upbringing and personal history, but all connected by two similarities: their awareness of their own womanhood and the love of their gardens and green spaces.

Alice Vincent's mastery of storytelling, of soft, feminine language makes that this book, although the women and stories on the pages all exist, reads like fiction. The stories, however, never fade or lose any of their power. These are real, true testimonies, of hope, struggle, hardship and love.

It is a beautiful book, that strings together so many topics, stories, histories, people and places organically and I highly recommend it.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering how many writers I have interrogated about why they write it’s truly shocking that I have never deeply questioned why I garden. Alice Vincent explores that question in expected as well as surprising ways. I suspect the gardening women I know and love will really enjoy this. It’s quite British in terms of the plants but there is something universal about what pulls us to get our hands into dirt and tend plants and seeds and trees. I listened to the audiobook, the printed book will be available on 16 May.

[Katie Mercer · Rating 4 out of 5]

i feel like this book took me forever to finish but i think it was because each chapter felt like a complete story i had to sit with on their own! thinking about our individual and shared relationships with plants and nurturing and change just make me so happy

[Jeanne Adamek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very much the case of Not For Me. I can honesty see gardners enjoying this, but I am not a gardner. Actually, I am the person that no one who knows me would ever ask me to water/watch out for their plants. As much as I appreciate and find beauty in plants, I am the one that the plants die on. Always. You might ask why I would want to read this book and I would tell you that my passion is reading about other peoples passion even if I do not share the passion. As beautiful as the writing was in parts of the book I didn't get what I had hoped to when I started this.

[Ghadeer Alhelal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about women growing as much as it’s about women gardening, which I enjoyed, although I’m in no way a gardener -yet, at least-, as this book made me reflect on the importance of women’s relationship to the earth.

Just like the author was on a journey to listen to different women’s stories, discover their motivation to garden and what gravitates them towards land, I, myself, am on a journey to understand what makes a woman, what women should be like in an age where personal desires, traditional concepts and current societal expectations mix up and confuse us all.

Which made this book satisfy the urge in me to listen to more women in different paths of life. It seems that being a woman is an isolating experience -or maybe being a human generally is-, making books like this essential and concepts like sisterhood important.

The author, who’s in a confusing life stage herself, in which she’s on the brinks of getting married, reflects on concepts of relationships, marriage and bearing and raising children. And uses gardening to ground herself in the midst of this chnaging climate, and interviews several women to know more about what makes them garden or grow.

Some, do, as a means to nurture something, dealing with the disappointing inability to bear children. Others, where gardening is passed to them through parents or grandparents, do it as a means of generational communication with past ancestors. Others, simply to have a relationship with the land, to create roots in new land, to feed from the earth’s fruit and medicate from its herbs.
Some women do it after living a life of corporate office careers, then choose to transition. From cities where life is too fast and busy to exist peacefully and just be, to the countryside to live slowly, reflect and introspect. This, I understand, I identify with this urge. Being a corporate “girly” myself, I see the thrill of letting all of this go, and go live a quieter life, where tangible outcome is guaranteed with less stress. But at what price?
Questions like this is my motif to read books like this, to discover what other women have to say and what their experience to diverge from expected paths is like.

All gardening skills are seemingly feminine attributes, nurture, patience, wild beauty, soft communication, understanding of cycles. Making me think, is this what makes a woman? these attributes? Not necessarily for sure, but this is a ground that I like, and would want to identify with.

Although i dread reading in English but this book was simply and beautifully written. Written by a woman for women. I would have wanted it from it to be deeper. However, it’s very good even with the little knowledge I have of gardening.

[Malinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read a book like this one, part memoir, part journalistic inquiry into the lives of different women.
I enjoyed the tranquil style of writing and the stories of the interviewees. I did feel that the author included her own thoughts and life too much and should have rested the focus of the book on the other women. Also it would have been nice to see some more diverse perspectives outside of Britain, but as this was written furing the pandemic, of course it wasn't pissible. Inspired me to also grow some flowers in my garden <3

[Aimee Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning - I loved it

[Camille Marguerite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cottagecore meets feminism, so obviously I loved this.

[Antonina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie mam ani własnego ogrodu, ani pojęcia o roślinach, ale na szczęście mam Stardew Valley!

Niektóre fragmenty przespałam, ale też sporo wątków naprawdę mnie wciągnęło, na przykład ten o związku macierzyństwa z uprawą ogrodu, albo o Vanessie Bell i jej cudownym artystycznym ogrodzie.

Ulubione cytaty:
„Marta znalazła czas i przestrzeń, aby inaczej myśleć o świecie zewnętrznym. Nie jako o czymś, co można poznać intelektualnie lub z czego da się czerpać korzyści, ale jako o czymś, co daje okazję zrobienia kroku w kierunku życia bardziej wypełnionego sensem”

„Kiedyś myślałam, że muszę wyłapać jakąś informację, następnie umieścić ją w swoim mózgu, a jeśli ktoś mnie o coś zapyta, ja powiem ‘tak’, i podam łacińską nazwę. Teraz szukam innych połączeń. Takich, które wykraczają poza zwykłe zbieranie informacji, gromadzenie wiedzy do ewentualnego wykorzystania w przyszłości. Po prostu lubię wyjść i doświadczać roślin. Widzieć jak się zmieniają. Postrzegam to jako rodzaj swoistej ciekawości świata”

„Kiedy zaczęłam żyć bliżej tych cykli, uprawiać rośliny i obserwować zmiany w ich życiu, byłam w stanie lepiej zrozumieć co się dzieje w moim własnym, stanowiącym część czegoś znacznie większego”

„Musimy ofiarować ziemi część siebie, aby zebrać owoce”

„Rośliny nie oceniają, a to co proponują w zamian, to swoboda bycia sobą. Osoby uważające przebywanie wśród innych za trudne, oraz te zmagające się z negatywnym myśleniem i lękami, szczególnie się cieszą prostotą relacji z ogrodami”

„Nie musisz być nikim specjalnym w otoczeniu roślin. Możesz być po prostu sobą. Uważam, że dobrze było wykonać krok w tył, żeby zrozumieć, że jestem wystarczająco dobra sama w sobie, bez konieczności posiadania czegoś do powiedzenia, czy udowadniania sobie czegokolwiek. Po prostu byłam w otoczeniu roślin. Powiedziałabym, że to poczucie spokojnej pewności siebie”

„Nieokiełznane letnie początki ogrodu uświadamiają mi, że piękno tkwi w tym, co nieoczekiwane. Kolory nie pasują do siebie, niektóre rośliny są bardziej krzykliwe od innych. Nie ma tu zbyt wiele designu. Zamiast tego stworzyłam ogród powodowana kaprysem i ciekawością, i teraz zaczynam widzieć, jak wygląda naprawdę”

„Ludzie, którzy lubią uprawiać ogród, uwielbiają udzielać innym porad z tym związanych*”
*nie to co grzybiarze!!@# (przypis autorki tego posta)

[Gustė · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was both a very special topic and a very healing read:)

'Spending more time observing and engaging with how plants grew allowed me to see a world I'd previously been blind to, that of the natural biological rhythms of the year. When I started to live more closely to those cycles, to grow plants and witness the changes in their lives, I was better able to understand that what happened in mine was part of something far greater.'

[Lydia Arney · Rating 4 out of 5]

So thing is cos I struggle to have any opinion for myself I nearly always read a couple other folks Goodreads reviews before I’ve even got a grasp of what I’ve thought of a book. I do this with film too but it’s stupid I should really just free flow my thoughts. But anyway at least in regards to this book. I found it pretty wonderful. Every few pages I found myself turning corners down to mark her reflections on these different women’s anecdotes of resistance, loss, breakdown, learning to lose control. However it did feel like she was saying the same things again and again as time went on. Similar versions of describing the green settings of their interview as apposed to really unearthing the depth of these stories. It seems the upshot is that the reasons woman tend to the earth are fairly universal which is comforting. But I was left wanting more tbh. it was a little like the school structured paragraphs of point evidence analysis kinda thing. But despite that there were mentions of some cool ass women, early pioneers of botany and herbalists that I wanna delve into. In Tudor times, healers and gatherers of natural remedies were called ‘herb women’ which I like a lot. I wanna call myself that. I took some nice lil learnings from it. The most important one I feel, to listen to the garden and the soil. To let things be messy and wild and to not tame a space. And that space making is not easy as a woman but that sticking your hands into the soil, whether your own patch or guerilla garden style, can be an act of feminism and an act of resistance.

[Karolina humanogram · Rating 5 out of 5]

To było świetne! Taaaaak się cieszę, że otwieram się ostatnio na książki nieco inne niż te, po które sięgam zazwyczaj.

Liczyłam na kilka fabularyzowanych wywiadów dotyczących tego, co jest fajnego w ogrodnictwie. Otrzymałam istne OPOWIEŚCI dotyczące kobiecych żyć przesiąkniętych próbą odnalezienia się w świecie, który stale nas ogranicza, wrzuca w ramy i narzuca normy. (Współ)praca z roślinami została opisana tutaj jako przepiękny akt, dzięki któremu można zyskać równowagę, swoje miejsce, spokój i stałe odkrywanie siebie!

To pozycja na refleksyjny czas w życiu, w ogrodzie czyta się ją oczywiście najlepiej 😌

[Jen E]

I am not sure how to feel about this book. It was more memoir than anything. Could have gone a little deeper into “why women grow” and she scratched the surface of / just mentioned complicated issues but not expand further. I did appreciate her journey and the lessons learned and I appreciate all the wisdom and the stories of the women who shared.

[Emilykate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im not a great reader of non-fiction but to me, this read like small stories glimpsing at these women's lives, from each I learned something about growing, femininity or myself. A beautiful book.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
This was rather disappointing. I did like the descriptions of the gardens and the overall idea but that was about it, I'm afraid.

[Eva Krebbers · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Well written and fascinating

[Beth Easton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many unheard voices emerging between the pages
Loved the Cambridge connection

[Zara Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend gave me this book for my birthday and I have enjoyed dipping in and out of it. Over the last few years my own garden has become a real place of peace as I navigate a parenting journey that’s been harder and more unexpected than I ever imagined. Gardening brings me joy, calm, and sometimes the little escape I need.

One line really hit me: “space was often made for ghosts – for grandparents… who were passing on the skills they had learned…” My garden connects me to the people I’ve lost, and looking after it feels like keeping a piece of them close. It really is my safe place.

Also, the cover art is absolutely gorgeous. Such a lovely book to add to the shelf.

🌸

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

' Why women grow' indeed! The reasons, what led them to, their pains, their hopes, their instant nurturing soul, their need to express to grow, to share, to see the fruits of their inner voice and experiences, their thoughts their hurt ...
The need to tangibly reflect...
The visibility within their growing be it of things in the visible world around or their inner heart ...
A myriad of reasons tenderly touched upon through different people in this book, as too, the growing that take places within , not just in a garden or outdoor space, but within oneself, one's heart as one does.

The book touched me , resonated deeply....I love to grow and only do so more, each day ...

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. Thought provoking that tells a narrative and answers questions.

[Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for the book and one more star for the podcast being, in my opinion, essential to a full reading of the book.

[Ellinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich gärtnere sehr gerne. Angefangen habe ich im Garten meiner Eltern, seit fünf Jahren habe ich nun endlich meinen eigenen. Ich liebe es, ihn immer wieder neu zu gestalten und auch aus einer kleinen Fläche noch wunderschönes herauszuholen.
Auch Alice Vincent, die Autorin von Vom Wachsen und Aufblühen teilt diese Leidenschaft. Zunächst gärtnert sie nur auf einem Balkon, später in einem Garten in London. Während des Lockdowns beginnt sie sich Gedanken über das Leben zu machen: viele ihrer Freundinnen und Bekannten wurden Mütter, sie spürte starke Veränderungen. Dabei kam ihr der Gedanke, sich mit anderen gärtnernden Frauen über deren Leben auszutauschen.
Für mich war dies ein Punkt, der mir etwas unstimmig vorkam, ich konnte die Gedankengänge, die Zusammenhänge nicht ganz nachvollziehen. Ich fand es sehr schön, über die verschiedenen Gärten und ihre Herrinnen zu lesen, mehr über die Hintergründe zu erfahren. Für mich ist Gärtnern etwas entspannendes, bedeutet es Zeit in der Natur und an der frischen Luft, bei dem man nebenbei etwas Schönes schafft. Die befragten Frauen hatten oft andere Hinter- oder Beweggründe, in den unterschiedlichsten Richtungen, die alle sehr interessant waren. Weniger interessant fand ich dagegen die Geschichte der Autorin. Diese hätte meiner Meinung nach mehr in den Hintergrund gehört, ein so großer Rahmen wäre nicht nötig gewesen, eine kurze Einleitung hätte genügt. Wirklich schön wäre es natürlich noch gewesen, Bilder der Gärten zu sehen.

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Малко скучна и доста разпиляна книга, ама говори за градина и цветя, така че не беше чак толкова лоша. Обичам да слушам за градинарство, макар в случая да беше заобиколено от доста други неща.

За съжаление, не е запомняща се книга. Просто е meh отвсякъде. Не се чувстваше като книга, а като журнал на объркана тийнейджърка. Интересно да видиш размислите, но не си сигурен, че си научил нещо ново или достигнал до някакво прозрение. Интересното за мен беше, че като чужденец в страната, книгата дава любопитен поглед върху съзнанието на жените тук. Забавно беше, особено като слушах книгата докато градинарствах. :Р

Определено обаче тук са обсебени от градините си и намирам това за очарователно. Дори аз прихванах вируса и въобще не се оплаквам. Това е вирус, който с удоволствие бих гледала как се разпространява. :Р

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, comforting, and interesting study of why women enjoy gardening. Maybe this sounds dry or too niche, but as someone who can barely keep a pot of basil alive, I still found value in this book, where learning about women's relationships to soil leads to profound conversations about women's experience of displacement, grief, motherhood, loneliness, and carving out space. At times, I did feel Vincent didn't fully nuance or explore what "femininity" meant to her, so I found her references to some gardens as "feminine spaces" a bit grating (as if "feminine" has some essential meaning or look). But listening to this as an audiobook was a lovely accompaniment to walks in the park, and a window into the lives of the many women of different ages and backgrounds with whom Vincent spoke.