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A Wilder Way: How Gardens Grow Us
A Wilder Way is a memoir of a relationship with an ever-changing garden, of setting down roots and becoming embedded in nature, and of how tending to a patch of land will not only grow us as individuals, but can also help to grow a better world.
Join Poppy Okotcha in her wild little garden in Devon, where, over the course of a year, she shares the inspiring, the mundane and the magical moments that arise from tending a garden through the seasons, and what they can teach us about living more sustainably.
Alongside tips for sowing and growing, wild ingredients to be found and delicious seasonal recipes to make, she shows us how the small joys of engaging with the natural world are imperative for our physical and emotional wellbeing. How the more we look at the world around us, the more we learn and the more we care. Woven throughout are folktales from her English and Nigerian heritage – stories with nature at their heart that have inspired her, and will inspire us to live a little more wildly.
Join Poppy Okotcha in her wild little garden in Devon, where, over the course of a year, she shares the inspiring, the mundane and the magical moments that arise from tending a garden through the seasons, and what they can teach us about living more sustainably.
Alongside tips for sowing and growing, wild ingredients to be found and delicious seasonal recipes to make, she shows us how the small joys of engaging with the natural world are imperative for our physical and emotional wellbeing. How the more we look at the world around us, the more we learn and the more we care. Woven throughout are folktales from her English and Nigerian heritage – stories with nature at their heart that have inspired her, and will inspire us to live a little more wildly.
329 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 2025
57 people are currently reading
860 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 1, 2025
A gentle, beautiful book about gardening and connection with the earth.
I loved the pencil drawings and recipes.
I learned loads!
I loved the pencil drawings and recipes.
I learned loads!
December 13, 2025
surprisingly beautiful
December 19, 2025
A Wilder Way is a book that breathes. From the first pages, Poppy Okotcha’s language feels alive; eloquent and poetic, with a rhythm that mirrors the natural cycles she writes about. There is soul in the prose, a sense that the words have grown slowly, deliberately, like the garden she tends. This is not a book that rushes to instruct or persuade; it invites you to slow down, listen, and remember.
One of the book’s great strengths is its exploration of the seasonal bond between our bodies and the land beneath our feet. Okotcha gently reminds us that we are not separate from the earth’s rhythms, but deeply entangled with them, shaped by light, weather, soil, rest, and growth. This idea is not presented as dogma, but as lived experience, grounded in observation and care. The result is a reading experience that feels calm and restorative, quietly uplifting rather than performatively hopeful.
What struck me most, though, was the historical and cultural insight woven through the gardening narrative. Okotcha’s observation about the suppression of May Day traditions in Britain and how this erasure of land-linked celebration rehearsed the wider repression of indigenous cultures under colonialism, is particularly eye-opening. She draws a compelling line between the removal of ritual, seasonal knowledge, and communal connection, and the creation of a psychological distance that makes exploitation possible. When people are disconnected from their land, their traditions, and their sense of belonging, they become easier to displace, control, and abuse. It is a quietly radical insight, offered without accusation, but with clarity and care.
The concept of “rewilding”, or as Okotcha reframes it, becoming “Earth gardeners”, is another highlight. Rather than positioning humans as outsiders who must step away entirely, she suggests a more intimate, responsible relationship: one rooted in tending, reciprocity, and humility. This idea feels especially powerful in a time when environmental discourse can veer towards either guilt or grandiosity. Okotcha offers something far more grounded: participation instead of domination, attention instead of extraction.
I was also deeply drawn to her reflections on place, particularly the idea of harvesting intimacy with where we are, rather than endlessly globe-trotting in search of meaning or novelty. There is something quietly subversive in choosing to know one patch of land well, to build relationship rather than consume experience. In this sense, A Wilder Way is not just about gardens, but about belonging and about learning to stay, notice, and care.
Ultimately, this is a gentle book, but not a shallow one. Its calmness does not come from avoidance, but from deep engagement: with history, ecology, culture, and self. A Wilder Way doesn’t shout about change, it shows how change grows, slowly and relationally, when we remember that we are part of the living world, not separate from it.
One of the book’s great strengths is its exploration of the seasonal bond between our bodies and the land beneath our feet. Okotcha gently reminds us that we are not separate from the earth’s rhythms, but deeply entangled with them, shaped by light, weather, soil, rest, and growth. This idea is not presented as dogma, but as lived experience, grounded in observation and care. The result is a reading experience that feels calm and restorative, quietly uplifting rather than performatively hopeful.
What struck me most, though, was the historical and cultural insight woven through the gardening narrative. Okotcha’s observation about the suppression of May Day traditions in Britain and how this erasure of land-linked celebration rehearsed the wider repression of indigenous cultures under colonialism, is particularly eye-opening. She draws a compelling line between the removal of ritual, seasonal knowledge, and communal connection, and the creation of a psychological distance that makes exploitation possible. When people are disconnected from their land, their traditions, and their sense of belonging, they become easier to displace, control, and abuse. It is a quietly radical insight, offered without accusation, but with clarity and care.
The concept of “rewilding”, or as Okotcha reframes it, becoming “Earth gardeners”, is another highlight. Rather than positioning humans as outsiders who must step away entirely, she suggests a more intimate, responsible relationship: one rooted in tending, reciprocity, and humility. This idea feels especially powerful in a time when environmental discourse can veer towards either guilt or grandiosity. Okotcha offers something far more grounded: participation instead of domination, attention instead of extraction.
I was also deeply drawn to her reflections on place, particularly the idea of harvesting intimacy with where we are, rather than endlessly globe-trotting in search of meaning or novelty. There is something quietly subversive in choosing to know one patch of land well, to build relationship rather than consume experience. In this sense, A Wilder Way is not just about gardens, but about belonging and about learning to stay, notice, and care.
Ultimately, this is a gentle book, but not a shallow one. Its calmness does not come from avoidance, but from deep engagement: with history, ecology, culture, and self. A Wilder Way doesn’t shout about change, it shows how change grows, slowly and relationally, when we remember that we are part of the living world, not separate from it.
August 15, 2025
A really really beautiful book that covers our connection to food and nature, whilst interweaving recipes, growing tips, explanations of the problems associated with our food system today and interesting historical context around the growing calendar, including Celtic and Igbo folklore.
Okotcha’s journey from leaving the modelling industry due to the associated exploitation and environmental degradation, to becoming a regenerative gardener is commendable. It is clear she finds substantially more fulfilment tending to, and being tended by, her garden than the glitz and glam of fashion ever provided her. Okotcha is a persuasive advocate for Eudamonia existing at home, embedded in community and in nature.
Despite the subject matter of this book being our fundamental and foundational connection to nature, the circularity of life, the local ecosystems and soil that sustains us, the way Okotcha lives and thinks about life feels quite radical in today’s world. Growing and foraging large amounts of food, living in accordance with the seasons, regenerative practices, protecting the soil micro biome, cultivating diversity and letting nature take the lead. All of this is radical, none of it should be. After reading this book you’ll be taking steps to further embed into your life, your diet or your sphere of thinking.
Only regret is that I was so keen to read this book I bought it on kindle so I could start it immediately - I wish I’d waited for a paper copy as I am sure I will be referring back to it often, and it feels like a book that is very intentionally and beautifully curated with art work and recipes interspersed. Might yet have to get myself a paper copy!
Okotcha’s journey from leaving the modelling industry due to the associated exploitation and environmental degradation, to becoming a regenerative gardener is commendable. It is clear she finds substantially more fulfilment tending to, and being tended by, her garden than the glitz and glam of fashion ever provided her. Okotcha is a persuasive advocate for Eudamonia existing at home, embedded in community and in nature.
Despite the subject matter of this book being our fundamental and foundational connection to nature, the circularity of life, the local ecosystems and soil that sustains us, the way Okotcha lives and thinks about life feels quite radical in today’s world. Growing and foraging large amounts of food, living in accordance with the seasons, regenerative practices, protecting the soil micro biome, cultivating diversity and letting nature take the lead. All of this is radical, none of it should be. After reading this book you’ll be taking steps to further embed into your life, your diet or your sphere of thinking.
Only regret is that I was so keen to read this book I bought it on kindle so I could start it immediately - I wish I’d waited for a paper copy as I am sure I will be referring back to it often, and it feels like a book that is very intentionally and beautifully curated with art work and recipes interspersed. Might yet have to get myself a paper copy!
July 26, 2025
This is such a brilliant book! I thoroughly enjoyed how Poppy takes her readers through a whole season of gardening, as though we would be there with her by her side. The book is packed with gardening knowledge, various useful recipes, further reading and it was so carefully, lovingly written and curated - I absolutely loved her gorgeous illustrations. Poppies focus is crafting that eco-consciousness right where we live - firstly in our gardens, in the food we grow ourselves, developing and exploring our connection to what nourishes us. I especially want to note how beautiful and endearing her thoughts were, and as an individual her work is incredibly inspiring. Definitely my favourite book of the year!
August 11, 2025
This is book 17 of my 20 Books of Summer 2025.
3.5 stars
This was a lovely read, as the author shares her own experience of gardening where she lives, and how nature has impacted her over the years. It's one of those reads that are so easy to follow along with, and how gardening has been such a comfort to her through some tough times and that's something I think a lot of us can relate to.
She shares some English and Nigerian folktales along the way, which I found really interesting along with gardening hints/tips and some recipes too of which I'm hoping to be trying out too! She has a really lovely, engaging writing style and it's written from month to month, so you can follow along with her progress and tasks as the year unfolds.
3.5 stars
This was a lovely read, as the author shares her own experience of gardening where she lives, and how nature has impacted her over the years. It's one of those reads that are so easy to follow along with, and how gardening has been such a comfort to her through some tough times and that's something I think a lot of us can relate to.
She shares some English and Nigerian folktales along the way, which I found really interesting along with gardening hints/tips and some recipes too of which I'm hoping to be trying out too! She has a really lovely, engaging writing style and it's written from month to month, so you can follow along with her progress and tasks as the year unfolds.
September 26, 2025
I was told to read this book by my sister, who is a master organic gardener. I am a complete novice in the garden and really have no idea what I'm doing in it.
I fell in love with Poppy Okotcha's way of looking at the world through gardening, the delicate ecosystems that bind us together, the understanding that everything has a purpose, and that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. I love the recipes! The birds in our garden will be well-fed this winter as I am making her suet.
This was a gentle, lovely, insightful read!
I fell in love with Poppy Okotcha's way of looking at the world through gardening, the delicate ecosystems that bind us together, the understanding that everything has a purpose, and that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. I love the recipes! The birds in our garden will be well-fed this winter as I am making her suet.
This was a gentle, lovely, insightful read!
August 9, 2025
What an utterly gorgeous book. Poppy weaves a beautiful and educational story of her garden, the natural world as a whole, and the interconnectedness of all living beings sharing a space. The illustrations are stunning, and the recipes and gardening tips and tricks dotted throughout are easy to apply and try out. I will be using some of her recipes, for sure! Highly recommended to everyone. We need to reconnect with the natural world and this book inspires us to do that.
October 1, 2025
lots of exciting, introductory, and heartfelt insight to glean from this text. i'll be drawing knowledge from the structure and recipes when I revisit this, according to the seasons. I also really appreciate the suggested reading list in the back. overall, an immigrant story that seeks to both inform and inspire comfort, empowerment, presence, and healing in one's garden. this will remain a book to flip open at any time of the year, per my needs as a budding home gardener. 3.5
July 11, 2025
Beautifully observed and written, telling stories of the author's experience bringing a forest garden into being, and the effects that gardening has on us as a human creature. Loved the recipes and the gardening advice. Read this book and you will feel closer to the power of the land before you even step out of the door xx
August 2, 2025
a wonderful mixture of gardening , folklore, recipes, celtic and Nigerian mythology, ecology, science, and nature writing. I absolutely loved this book it follows the celtic wheel of the year as a diary
May 17, 2025
A lovely book charting the way we grow and mature as our gardens do. Insightful and educational.
September 19, 2025
A lovely book.
September 21, 2025
I was so sad to get to the end of this book. Literally like catching up with a close friend on a daily basis. Recipes were a quaint and useful touch! Hope there is another to come.
September 24, 2025
different gardening book with a few recipes.
December 15, 2025
I really enjoyed this. I think it was maybe trying to be too many things but there were bits of it that I loved
September 19, 2025
Bought this on audible expecting to learn lots about gardening in a nature and wildlife-friendly way, and it absolutely delivered on that but on soo much more too. It’s a wonderful read that spans memoir, culture, climate change, politics, foraging, folklore and history. Absolutely loved it and have now bought a hard copy because I want to refer back to it lots and the recipes.
August 15, 2025
Gave the audiobook four stars but seeing the book in a bookshop I bought it. It’s so beautiful and now I can do recipes etc through the year
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews