Simple Pleasures of the Garden: Stories, Recipes & Crafts from the Abundant Earth

by Susannah Seton

A collection of gardening tips, recipes, crafts, gift ideas, tales, and more from the author of Every Garden Is a Story.Simple Pleasures of the Garden is a treasure chest of tips, how-to's, stories, and trade secrets gathered together in one beautiful book. Organized by season, the hundreds of suggestions and recipes present a profusion of ways to celebrate the bounty of the Earth all year round.Projects include handcrafted lotions and oils, baskets and wreaths, potpourris and floral waters, along with dozens of simple, inexpensive home decorations and easy-to-prepare recipes that utilize all of your garden's harvest. From compost tea to confetti corn chowder, Simple Pleasures of the Garden will inspire you to bestow the comforts and charms of your garden on family and friends.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature

316 pages, ebook

First published January 31, 1998

Reviews

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a commonplace book, with quotes, gardening hints, stories and recipes. Susannah Seton seems more the editor than writer. I wish each author's name was attached to their contribution.

The book is divided by the four seasons. Within the season are sections:
In the Garden,
With Family and Friends,
Into the Kitchen,
Beautifying Your Home, and
Nourishing Boy and Soul.

It has occupied my nightstand for several months as I sampled pages. I copied some quotes, was reminded to make Tomato Red Pepper Soup this week with my garden excess, and contemplated adding bergamot (bee balm) to my garden next year.

What I liked best was on the last page, What I Get from a Garden

• visible gratitude
• small surprises
• metaphors
• antidotes for too much thought
• a place to do some thinking
• a place to slash and burn and feel good about it
• solvable problems
• more than I put in
• permission to be muddy
• a model of God's efficiency and extravagance
• a chance to see the whole wheel turn
• a feast of color
• encounters with interesting creatures
• patience
• a place to "practice resurrection"
• zucchini for the whole neighborhood
• a place to practice strategy on small predators
• a chance to start over

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really effective as lulling, boring nighttime reading, but the editing of this volume was terrible. I got really confused halfway through the book because it seemed like the authorial voice was so inconsistent (does this person live in a city? I thought they said they had several acres? Wait, they have a wife? Weren't they talking about their husband earlier?). There was no indication in the introduction or on the title pages that this was an anthology, but lo and behold, if you read the fine print in the acknowledgements, that's exactly what it is. None of the individual sections include the author credits. In addition, I noticed numerous distracting errors of grammar, typography, and editing that should have been caught by someone. There were some sweet anecdotes and such, but I won't remember this book.

[Liz Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this is "Stories, Recipes, and Crafts from the Abundant Earth". Each entry is followed by a quote. It has four main sections: Spring, Summer , Fall, and Winter. Each main section has four subsections: In the Garden, With Family and Friends, Into the Kitchen, Beautifying Your Home, Nourishing Body and Soul. The book is beautiful. The entries are written by multiple people. I will keep it as a reference book. I bought it at Dollar Tree.

[Debra Wenskovitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice collection of stories, recipes and crafts about gardening.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really stories, but more like like a a collection of comments. Nice garden quotations and recipes.

[Advie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must keep guide, stories, and recipe book.