This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader

I have read scores of books on organic gardening, permaculture, the environment, and food... This book tops my list of must-reads! Every living, breathing, eating adult needs this book! (while you're at it check out "The Organic Gardener's Home Reference" it's a wonderfully comprehensive and precise reference)

As a former student of Joan Gussow, I have had the pleasure of visiting the garden that she so eloquently describes. After reading her book, it has further "energized" me to get my act together & get things ready for a garden next spring (which means I must get the beds & soil ready now). Joan is an inspirational person & it is so nice that more people will have the ability to learn from her through her book. It will make you think twice before you buy imported produce. Support your local farmers!

From the Washington Post: Books Show Organic Gardens Can Be of Beauty and Service By Joel M. Lerner Saturday, June 16, 2001; Page H07 ...(G)et a copy of "This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader" by Joan Dye Gussow (Chelsea Green...). You will forget that education is the purpose of this book, because it moves so much like a novel. However, you will find yourself stopping and jotting down little bits of information and recipes along the way.This informative text is about the author's trials and tribulations, a story of self-sufficiency and living off the land. It is so well written, poignant and packed with facts that every page is enjoyable and educational reading. You will go through floods and feasts, good times and bad, and come out the other end an extremely well-informed organic gardener, but you get there almost subliminally as you enjoy this 273-page hardcover account.

Ms. Gussow's book is an important work that enlightens the reader to the meaning of eating and living locally. She tells us about the costly effects, both personal and global, of eating food that comes from half way around the world (if we know where it comes from at all). She paints a beautiful picture of the glories of growing and eating food produced locally, all from her own experience. Her gardens are astounding, something to aspire to! But so is her knowledge of nutrition, agricultural politics and organic gardening. Key points in her writing are puncuated with simple, delicious recipes. Her granola is great! I look forward to trying more of them when things come in to season. She reminds me of MFK Fisher, with a very clear and pointed social conscience. Reading this book has inspired me to be much more aware of where my food comes from and has given me good reason to always ask the supermarket to sell me local produce when possible.

Confession:I'm not a gardener -- only somebody endlessly grateful she has friends who are. But Joan Gussow's lovely book might just get me out there. Her arguments for eating locally are so cogent and expressed with such passion that she leaves me little choice. "This Organic Life" is deliciously written -- wry, acerbic, ebullient by turns -- and is in fact about much more than gardening. It's about Finding Your Dream House -- and having to rebuild it from the ground up. Obliquely, poignantly, it's about a long, strong marriage and a death. As Barbara Kingsolver says, "full of hope, kindness, and arresting wisdom." All this, and great recipes!