Growing with the Seasons: A Sharing of Insights Into the Creative Aspects of Organic Gardening
Product Description
GARDENING, PERSONAL GROWTH, COMMUNITY, AND SUSTAINABLE LIVINGThe basic elements of any garden are always the same: seeds, soil, sun, and water. It is in the search for that perfect combination that leads the gardener into the broader aspects of each element. The transitions made during the growing season tell many stories about not only seed, soil, sun, and water, but also about one’s self. Each season brings its own discoveries, whether using new methods to overcom… More >>
Growing with the Seasons: A Sharing of Insights Into the Creative Aspects of Organic Gardening
I purchased this book because I had read alot on the web about the Giannangelo’s Organic Gardening and wanted to read & learn more. Their book provided me wonderful insights into what life is like as organic gardeners at 7200 feet in the beautiful remote high desert of Northwest New Mexico near El Morro National Monument. I will soon be living in the area and wanted to learn from their meaningful, down to earth experiences. After reading their book, I am very excited about the new adventures & challenges that await me down the road, as I pass through the four seasons in the remote, 1 1/4 mile high, enchanting “Land of Fire and Ice”. I highly recommend this book to those who appreciate and desire to return to a simpler, down-to-earth life! Like the words to an old Joni Mitchell song say… ” …And we gotta get ourselves back to the Garden”
Rating: 5 / 5
Frank and Vicky Giannangelo give the reader insights into organic gardening and also into coping with the world around us. Their backgrounds were not originally in gardening, but after they were married in 1986 they became interested in organic gardening, first in Arizona and later in New Mexico. They write that this is “the evolving story of our endeavors to bring about a planned harmony between ourselves, our world, and the people around us.”
This book is a delight to read. It is divided into sections by season, with each season having a fitting epigraph. The chapter titles alone are intriguing: Lost in Anticipation, Life Scales, A Stricken World, or Stretching Out. These descriptions are an indication that you will learn not only about how to tend your garden but also your relationships. The black-and-white photographs by Vicky Giannangelo are charming: a garden with iris, catmint, a kitty and thyme, a wonderful close-up of bees getting nectar from the center of a flower. The authors offer some useful tips on gardening and philosophy, saying, “In the end, the garden is an anchor that holds us fast in our place in the universe.”
Rating: 5 / 5
On the surface, Growing with the Seasons is an evocative series of short muses about an organic garden in a small New Mexico community. It carries the reader through the four seasons with bright images of suppers with friends, wild weather, and putting up vegetables for the long cold winter, all illustrated with an abundance of lovely photographs,
The greatest value of this book, however, is not found in its advice on gardening. The Giannangelos have written a touching and accessible treatise on how to live better in the world and with each other, using their garden as a teaching companion. This is not so much a book about gardening, as it is a wonderful reminder to live a happier and more connected life.
Rating: 5 / 5