A Way to Garden: A Hands-On Primer for Every Season

I don't know how I missed this book till now. I went looking for it when I read that Margaret Roach views life and gardening the way M.F.K. Fisher viewed life and food. It's true. This book is lovely and practical, sweet and direct. As we head into winter, I'm keeping it close to remind me of what will come again, in time.

This book was like a box of the most exquisite chocolates. I wanted to devour it in one sitting but I paced myself, just reading a little at a time. It was truly a joy to read and look at the lovely pictures. All I can say is I want more, both of her writing and philosophy and of pictures of her garden. I agree that this book doesn't really tell you how to garden but it shows you why to garden.

This book won't teach you HOW to garden--not really, anyway--but it's a must-have if you've ever enjoyed any of the Martha Stewart Living articles about Roach's gardens, or, lately, her own editorial letters. She has a way of making me feel that if she did it, I can do it myself. Her humility in the face of her garden and of nature itself is evidenced in the title "A Way to Garden"--she doesn't presume to know THE way. The book is wonderfully written and beautifully photographed--I'll never tire of leafing through it.

This is a beautifully written and exquisitely photographed guide to both the spiritual as well as physical lives of gardens and their gardeners. I can think of no book like it -- either in its fine writing or in its brave scope. The writer lays bare her thoughts and feelings about the cycles of life while strategically leading us through the gardening year with good, solid gardening knowledge. This can be read in all seasons in all zones, at every stage of life. Truly, this is the way to garden.