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Voices from the Earth: A Year in the Life of a Garden
A garden is what you make of it, writes William Longgood, a man devoted to fighting an honorable war against beetles, respecting the noble origins of common weeds, developing an affinity for slugs, and becoming a connoiseur of high-quality manure.
Not in any way a traditional gardening book, Voices from the Earth is an exploration of those aspects of gardening that are ever present but not often discussed: the vagaries and treacheries of weather; the perversity of the seasons; the complexity and cleverness of insects; the continuing cycle of life and death; compost and immortality; and the sights, sounds, and aromas of gardens.
Longgood also contemplates the nether world of invisible soil organisms and other creatures that make life possible, the mysteries of unidentified plant diseases, seeds that do not germinate, seedlings that refuse to grow, plants that fail to reproduce for no known rational reason, gardening triumphs and disasters, visitors and volunteers. Laced with humor and a gentle philosophy, this engaging book is a personal reflection on the nature of gardens and humans.
Not in any way a traditional gardening book, Voices from the Earth is an exploration of those aspects of gardening that are ever present but not often discussed: the vagaries and treacheries of weather; the perversity of the seasons; the complexity and cleverness of insects; the continuing cycle of life and death; compost and immortality; and the sights, sounds, and aromas of gardens.
Longgood also contemplates the nether world of invisible soil organisms and other creatures that make life possible, the mysteries of unidentified plant diseases, seeds that do not germinate, seedlings that refuse to grow, plants that fail to reproduce for no known rational reason, gardening triumphs and disasters, visitors and volunteers. Laced with humor and a gentle philosophy, this engaging book is a personal reflection on the nature of gardens and humans.
- GenresNonfictionNature
335 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1991
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May 8, 2009
The first book I read by William Longgood was "The Queen Must Die", an account of the time he spent as a beekeeper. I enjoyed his writing so much -- informative, a good sense of humor -- that I sought out more of what he'd written, and picked up "Voices from the Earth." I think it's even better than "The Queen".
I don't suppose you'd have to have a garden to appreciate this book, but it helps. Longgood is an organic gardner living on Cape Cod, and this book chronicles his attempts, after moving to the relatively infertile seaside soil from a very fertile New Jersey, of establishing a vegetable garden. He has his successes and failures, and when he becomes curious about something -- "Why do I have an infestation of potato beetles, and my neighbor doesn't?" -- he researches it and explains the science behind it all.
He also has an interest in his neighbors and their approaches to gardening. There's the old dirt farmer with a classic New England stoicism who turns out to be a superb gardener with a gentle touch and loads of advice; the lady with the horse stables who's happy to share manure; and more.
He anthropomorphizes his vegetables all the time, which I liked. Plants are described as eager, adventurous, tough, stubborn.... Bugs, too; he discovers a large black garden spider near his beans and keeps track of her for several pages, going into the amazing life of a spider and listing all the pests a spider consumes. And then a city friend comes to visit and announces proudly to Longgood that he saw an awful spider in the garden but not to worry, he killed it. Longgood is sincerely sad to have lost her.
I think the book is out of print but you can find it cheap on the interwebs. Pick it up for a quick and relaxing summer read. Then go out and do your weeding.
I don't suppose you'd have to have a garden to appreciate this book, but it helps. Longgood is an organic gardner living on Cape Cod, and this book chronicles his attempts, after moving to the relatively infertile seaside soil from a very fertile New Jersey, of establishing a vegetable garden. He has his successes and failures, and when he becomes curious about something -- "Why do I have an infestation of potato beetles, and my neighbor doesn't?" -- he researches it and explains the science behind it all.
He also has an interest in his neighbors and their approaches to gardening. There's the old dirt farmer with a classic New England stoicism who turns out to be a superb gardener with a gentle touch and loads of advice; the lady with the horse stables who's happy to share manure; and more.
He anthropomorphizes his vegetables all the time, which I liked. Plants are described as eager, adventurous, tough, stubborn.... Bugs, too; he discovers a large black garden spider near his beans and keeps track of her for several pages, going into the amazing life of a spider and listing all the pests a spider consumes. And then a city friend comes to visit and announces proudly to Longgood that he saw an awful spider in the garden but not to worry, he killed it. Longgood is sincerely sad to have lost her.
I think the book is out of print but you can find it cheap on the interwebs. Pick it up for a quick and relaxing summer read. Then go out and do your weeding.
Displaying 1 of 1 review