From the Ground Up: The Story of A First Garden by Amy Stewart is a must read for anyone interested in gardening. I have talked about gardening a few times before and this book was just what I needed right now. At the beginning of the season (March/April) I am all excited to plant seeds and dream about the produce I will be receiving at the end of summer; by August I am over it. After weeding, watering, harvesting, dealing with the heat etc. for the entire spring and summer I am over the garden. I just want to forget about it and move on. But there is still harvesting to do and plants to take care off before winter sets in. Otherwise there is that much more work the next year.
Stewart does not skirt around the hard work of gardening, but she does inspire me to make a better garden for each year to come. She talks about her failures and successes and gives some very helpful tips to beginner gardeners. Gardening is hard work but each year you learn something new and try not to make that same mistake the following year. You also feel pride in your garden and the produce you get to eat after the hard work. This year we were pretty successful in what we planted, which is good since it can be very disheartening to deal with loss after loss. I am pretty sure the first year we had a garden it was pretty much a failure. But again, you learn and since then things have been looking up.
We have plans to move in the middle of the summer next year, meaning if we have a garden it will need to be small and mostly producing in the Spring and early summer. I wish it were different because it almost makes me just want to take the whole year off, but reading this book make me want to have spectacular garden plans. Plans that just aren’t feasible for next year. I am mostly okay with this, since I know I have many years to garden in the future.
This book is a very quick read and is good for both beginner and experienced gardeners, or even someone that is just thinking about gardening. Really if you have any interest in gardening, check this book out.
