The Garden in Every Sense and Season (★★★★☆)

Tovah Martin   *   Timber Press   *   April 3, 2018   *   292 Pages

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Tovah Martin writes a lot of gardening books. I own many of them, and I really enjoy her down-to-earth, knowledgeable, and encouraging perspective. This book is a little different from others she’s written. It reads more like a long journal entry, maybe even like a love letter to her garden. It asks the reader to stop working the earth like a mad-person and try to peacefully observe and enjoy it sometimes. I like when Martin says in the intro, that she’s made senseless mistakes in her garden because of numbness and overwhelm. “This,” she says, “is the frantic response of the frenetic gardener.” Instead, the goal should be not just to work hard, cultivate, tame, but also to truly love and appreciate the fruits of your labor. It’s a nice message—a peaceful and relaxing message. After finishing the book, I definitely wanted to slow down and simply exist in my outdoor space for a bit.

The book is divided into four main sections:  Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. And each of those sections is divided into five subsections:  sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. There are some beautiful photos in here, but they aren’t the main focus—the “chill out” message is.

Though I think just about anyone can get something from this book, it’s going to be more fun to read if you have some general gardening experience and plant knowledge under your belt. It wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting for me if I hadn’t already been familiar with what most of these plants look like, as well as how they grow and when. Overall, though, this is a mellow and inspirational book. I enjoyed reading it.

Thank you, Timber Press and Amazon Vine for the Advanced Reader Copy!