Orchard House: How a Neglected Garden Taught One Family to Grow

by Tara Austen Weaver

For fans of Anne Lamott, a profoundly moving memoir of rediscovering, reinventing, and reconnecting, as an estranged mother and daughter come together to revive a long-abandoned garden and ultimately their relationship and themselves.
 
Peeling paint, stained floors, vined-over windows, a neglected and wild garden—Tara Austen Weaver can’t get the Seattle real estate listing out of her head. Any sane person would have seen the abandoned property for what it a ramshackle half-acre filled with dead grass, blackberry vines, and trouble. But Tara sees potential and promise—not only for the edible bounty the garden could yield for her family, but for the personal renewal she and her mother might reap along the way.
 
So begins Orchard House, a story of rehabilitation and cultivation—of land and soul. Through bleak winters, springs that sputter with rain and cold, golden days of summer, and autumns full of apples, pears, and pumpkins, this evocative memoir recounts the Weavers’ trials and triumphs, detailing what grew and what didn’t, the obstacles overcome and the lessons learned. Inexorably, as mother and daughter tend this wild patch and the fruits of their labor begin to flourish, green shoots of hope emerge from the darkness of their past.
 
For everyone who has ever planted something that they wished would survive—or tried to mend something that seemed forever broken— Orchard House is a tale of healing and growth set in a most unlikely place.

Praise for Orchard House
 
“This touching memoir chronicles how the act of transforming a garden together—of ‘planting hope’—helps a mother and daughter reconnect and revive the sense of groundedness that had been lost within their relationship and themselves. . . . [ Orchard House ] deftly [captures] the love, laughter, trials and tears that make motherhood the joy and job it truly is.” — American Way
 
“Honest and moving . . . [the story of] one woman’s initiation into intensive gardening with her mother, which changed a neglected space into something beautiful and bountiful and shifted their relationship as well.” — Kirkus Reviews
 
“Fascinating, tender, often heartbreaking . . . The perfect gift for a mother or a daughter with an appreciation for the transformative power of gardening.” — HGTV Gardens
 
“A wise exploration of family roots . . . Nurturing a garden is a lovely metaphor for healing a family. . . . [ Orchard House ] could serve as a handbook for both.” — Shelf Awareness
 
“With buoyant grace and empathic insights, Weaver offers an ardent tribute to both the science of perseverance and the art of letting go.” — Booklist

“This is a glorious book—lyrical, honest, compassionate, and wise. It reminds us that gardens and families are messy businesses, but from them we can harvest hope and food and moments of grace.” —Erica Bauermeister, author of The School of Essential Ingredients
 
“Filled with sensuous descriptions, this beguiling story enchants. Gardeners and non-gardeners alike will delight in this lyrical tale of how a garden grows a family.” —Diana Abu-Jaber, author of  The Language of Baklava  and  Birds of Paradise

“ Orchard House is a glorious and deeply moving story of one family’s redemption. If Anne Lamott and Wendell Berry ever had a literary love child, Tara Austen Weaver might well be her.” —Elissa Altman, author of Poor Man’s Feast

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Gardening, Food, Nature, Biography Memoir, Biography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 24, 2015

About the author

Tara Austen Weaver writes about the big, wide world: food, travel, culture, the environment, art, and adventure in its many guises. A Northern California native, she has lived in five countries on three continents and is happiest either exploring with a notebook and camera, or spending the day in a kitchen learning how people feed themselves (the best stories always get told in the kitchen). Tara loves to write about farmers, environmentalists, artists, and other passion-driven individuals. She has a hard time picking a favorite spot on earth, but it might just be at 7,000 ft. in the backcountry. Or on a small island. Or in a sailboat. And definitely at a dinner table, surrounded by friends or intriguing strangers.

(source)

Reviews

[Sian Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really good at telling folks what doesn't work for me about their writing, but I get a bit tongue-tied when it comes to describing something that really works for me. The cliches come: I was touched. I was moved. I didn't want it to end. But really, honestly, I was touched and moved and didn't want it to end. I mostly read at the kitchen table while eating breakfast these days, and this book sat on my kitchen table for more than a week so I could linger over the last two chapters. I knew they were the last two chapters, and I didn't want them to be. "Aren't you done with that yet?" my husband would ask, because I'm normally a speed-reader. As I'd read two sentences and stop to savor, I'd say, "Nope." NOPE. This book is all my favorite things: Gloriously written. Profoundly life-affirming without denying the difficulty that is life. It carefully shows how loving people is hard labor, and delightful, and rewarding, and worth every callous, cut, and strain. This book is so genuine, so open, and the prose is so measured and musical and full -- so much like the best kind of poetry. I'm telling you: This books is vibrant and wonderful and you should read it now. Slowly. (Disclaimer: Tara is a dear friend, and while you *could* take my praise to be influenced by that, Tara herself will tell you that I don't hesitate to tell people when I don't like their books. Their published books they've just spent months promoting. No, I will sit down with them on a curb at a Persian food festival and tell them how I think that book went horribly wrong. Because I'm a giver like that. By which I mean, a horrible, horrible friend. And so you should take my words for what they are here -- my truth.)

[Leah Agirlandaboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this, and I read it as slowly as possible because I didn’t want to let it go. I’m not a foodie by any stretch, and my gardening efforts usually fizzle, but there’s almost nothing I enjoy more than listening to people wax enthusiastic about their passions, and this book is entirely that—and not just about gardening and cooking and eating but about cultivating relationships within not just a family but a variety of different communities. The author, Tara (I hung out with her for a weekend ten years ago and have followed her on Instagram ever since, so we’re on a first-name basis in my mind), is the genuine real deal, and her deep earnestness is inspiring and welcoming in a way you can’t dismiss. Her descriptions of food (“the lettuces ruffled like petticoats in shades of rust and speckled lime...the kale put forth grayish-green leaves so bumpy they reminded me of the topography of a globe”) are always evocative, outshining even her gorgeous photos on insta, and this book takes that talent and expands its reach into wise, deeply felt thoughts about people too—her prickly mother, her own role as a daughter, her awkward relationship with her brother, her memories of an absent father, the committed, intentional way she connects with her nieces and nephew, the children she helps raise even though they’re not hers. I really can’t say enough good things about this book; it made me feel good.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, painful, revealing and moving. A well written memoir of the author's efforts to bring a large neglected garden back to productivity while attempting to create some semblance of connection with her family. Since both happiness and/or scars regarding family usually tend to run deep readers may likely have their own experiences and issues bubble to the surface as they read Weaver's struggle to come to terms with her own expectations and disappointments. Though one of the strengths of the book is a strong sense of reconciliation and redemption. Overall I thought the author's observations extremely poignant and insightful. (Well except for one glaringly ridiculous comparison she makes of browsing gardening catalogs being similar to viewing pornography. Absolutely not. One need only look at the natural consequences and damage caused in our society by the second to see the utter silliness of that statement.)

I learned some new things about gardening, composting and pruning and was fascinated with what was a completely new term and concept for me, permaculture. Great book for anyone interested in gardening or cooking, with lots of food for thought about the nature of family, connection and community.

4.5 stars

[Debbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may have aged out of this type of memoir. The author tells and re-tells the story of her sad childhood and distant mother. And while everyone's childhood experience is valid, for me, it does not necessarily make for a compelling read. There were few new insights into gardening or letting go of the past. The language was straight forward and this may have been a book I would have enjoyed in my twenties or thirties when I was new to gardening. While I was hoping for a Pacific Northwest garden memoir, something deep and reflective, what I found was more like a personal journey to understand, work through and heal the author's past.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author’s family wasn’t close- in fact, they’d decided that they worked better living in different cities. But now Weaver’s Seattle based brother has two children and another on the way, and her 70-ish mother decides she needs to move to that city. When they see a very unpromising property- a rundown old house with a huge, overgrown lot with fruit trees and berry bushes- they can’t get it out of their heads. The mother buys the house because of the food producing prospect; Weaver is enthused because her happiest childhood memories revolved around a garden. Her brother doesn’t care.

Weaver’s mother has had a hard life; never loved or wanted as a child she then finds herself abandoned by her husband with one small child and another on the way. As the sole support of her small family, she tried to always have food growing, so that no matter what, the children wouldn’t starve. Now, despite them all living in relative prosperity, she feels compelled to continue with this habit. Weaver sees the garden as an opportunity not just to indulge her love of gardening, but to bring her family closer.

The family story runs parallel with the gardening one; tasks in the garden bringing back memories and allowing for new bonds to be built. One of the problems is that Weaver is the only one who cares about creating family closeness; the mother is gone all summer, leaving the garden work to the author, while the brother and his wife are happy to allow the kids to spend time with ‘Aunt Tea-Tea’ they themselves show absolutely no interest in the garden. They have their own lives. Not only is Weaver battling the wild, overgrown garden and its problems, but her own hang-ups and family apathy.

The book has a slow start, and it jumps around in space and time, so you have to really pay attention. There are some repetitive areas. Two things remain constantly in sight- Weaver’s determination to both grow emotionally herself and to repair her family, especially her mother’s belief that she (her mother) is not worth loving. This is not high drama but the give and take of daily life, and I could certainly identify with some of what they all went through. Of course there were many moments that had the gardener in me nodding my head sympathetically and going “Oh, yeah, been there, done that!” And I’m definitely getting some Shuksan strawberry plants next year.

[Randal White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orchard House - An Outstanding Read! An outstanding book! The author, raised by her somewhat emotionally distant mother, is searching for a more satisfying and meaningful familial relationship. The two come together through the purchase and tending of a large Seattle garden. Kudos to Ms. Weaver for her ability to lay bare her soul and describe her emotions so well! And to be so brave to put it all out there for everyone to see! So many times in the book I found myself relating to her journey, thinking, "Exactly! Why couldn't I have figured that out on my own?" She truly has a gift for introspection and the descriptive language to express it. Lest you think the book is only a journey into her soul, there is also an abundance of gardening information. Having moved to Seattle myself recently, I plan to put it to good use. Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I rarely rate a book as a "must read". No such problem here. I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone. You will learn so much about yourself. Things that, deep down, you probably sensed, but could never quite put into words. Guaranteed! 
 

 

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I read an advanced/uncorrected proof copy of the book.

Secondly, if I was younger when I read this, I may have liked it better. But I have realized that you cannot change people, you cannot force your family into being what they are not.

And finally, what the hell is her obsession with blond/e hair!? I thought it was just me being nit-picky because I noticed this so often. But it got so damned annoying that I had to stop reading the book, and go back and count every time she commented on someone's blond/e hair. 12 times or so, and she was describing the same people most of the time. She also only mentioned other colored hair two times - once with she said her father went off with a dark-haired woman, and she mentioned that her mother's hair is gray. Seriously, what is up with this?

She did inspire me to not be too daunted by my garden/yard!

[Kristi 🐚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can hardly express how much this book means to me, how inspiring it is to my soul. If you have a garden (whether it flourishes from tall grass and weeds to juicy fruit and crisp veggies) and a family (children, parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, etc.), both needing some tender loving care, this memoir will hold your hand, motivate your green thumb, and fill your heart with family-gathering hope while giving you that gardening rush us gardeners work for. Thank you to my soul sister, Shelley, who left this book on my porch and gifted me days of reading in the warm sun amongst the palm trees and the birds in the yard as I thought about my future gardening and landscaping visions in the months and seasons ahead 💚

[NancyL Luckey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got a teaser from my library site for this book and knew I wanted to read it. I'd love to have lived in the house with the overgrown garden/orchard in Seattle! A mother and daughter shared it when they weren't living elsewhere - why they ever left it is beyond me! They both eventually learned "community" by reaching out to family and friends thru the garden. Tara built wonderful relationships with her nieces (niecelets) and thus with her brother. Wonderful book for anyone!

[Trina Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful book. Sometimes hilarious, often thoughtful, and full of poignancy, it was a joy to walk through the Orchard House years with the author.

[Suzanne Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orchard House seems at first a story of a dilapidated Seattle house and its wondrous but vine-covered and neglected garden. At once intriguing but rather off-putting, the author and her academic mother begin to tackle what seems like an impossible task.
The property reminds Weaver’s mother of earlier gardens she tended, and she’s so drawn to the possibility of restoring it to the vegetable garden and fruit orchard of her dreams that she purchases it despite its shortcomings. Weaver, a writer living in Seattle, is also a master gardener, and it’s her promise of help that spurs the project into action. But nothing is easy. For starters, they’re a dysfunctional family, not at all close, yet wanting to be, and her mother seems unable to implement her vague ideas. Then, the garden has been neglected for years and requires almost superhuman help to restore it to what it could be. However, through a series of seasons—from dismal, grey winters of rain and cold through lovely warm summers and autumns filled with their harvest fruits--a tentative thread of hope emerges. Little by little the garden begins to grow, and so does the nourishment of the soul as mother and daughter tend their garden. Both have lived through much trial and despair, and as their common goal begins to take shape, the broken family begins to heal.
Weaver is candid in her writing, sometimes blunt and not particularly poetic. She’s a realist, but one who longs for a closer relationship with her mother and her younger brother. I found myself immersed in her story on both levels. Though I didn’t grow up with a parent who couldn’t show the love she felt she didn’t deserve, I grew up with dreams of having an abundant garden. I am fortunate to have been blessed with the latter (and a greenhouse!) so I eager read to learn how the author planned her mother’s garden, what worked and what didn’t. I became fully engrossed in this story of how one family found itself through a garden.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley to review.

When I think of my mother I first remember our trips to the library and our shared love for reading and then, it is my memories of our gardening together. Reading this book brought back such sweet memories of gardening and cooking and preserving the bounty from our garden. For the past two years I have been delving back into the rich world of gardening and canning the rich rewards. My own daughter and her husband were the ones who helped my renewed interest; perhaps because they do the majority of the work! I happily reminisce while canning or dehydrating. The author really tapped into my memories and I suppose I am biased in saying that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because of my own past experiences.

I enjoyed her delving into the difficulties of her relationship with her mother and brother. Psychology and introspection are subjects that go right along with an activity such as gardening and I think it was a brilliant combination for a book. At times it appeared as though she was a bit too much on the introspection but good old fashioned catharsis is good for the soul, after all we are all human and have a complaint or two in this life. I found the writing was very well done and I would definitely recommend it.

[Lin Stepp · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the beginning of the book a daughter is looking at an old, neglected home and garden with her mother. Of course it is the garden, from the first, that draws them both … and the mother and daughter bonding over fixing up the garden and working together doing it is the primary plot of this memoir. Anyone who loves to garden will especially love this book and its detail … but even those who don't garden but just appreciate the beauty of nature and growing things will find joy in the story, too. The plot is a slow but sweet one inviting the reader into the lives of a family - and showing how they grow closer through sharing and working together. Tara Weaver's knowledge as a master gardener and designer shine through in the story … and much of the story is her own.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled upon one of Weaver's blog posts and when I saw she had written a book about her garden adventures that had a slant toward permaculture, I was intrigued. Sadly, the book did not live up to my expectations. It's the kind of book that you would read and be impressed by if your literarily inclined aunt wrote and self-published it, but it's not particularly interesting to a non-relative. There was a lot of reflection on Weaver's relationship with her mother, and a possibly unhealthy obsession with her brother's children. There were some garden adventures but not any particularly interesting ones. Pretty much all I got out of this is that I want to be in a soup-exchange club and that no I should never move to Seattle because yes it is just as grey all winter as I think it is.

[Lacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked it, but there was so many examples of how the author's family had wronged each other. Like she was airing her grievances.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tara Austen Weaver has always yearned for a closer-knit family. Her mother was raised by a very harsh stepmother (these days I would hope CPS would have been called in), and lacked the experience herself of a close family life. Although the author's mother worked very hard to raise her two children, Tara does not gloss over the sacrifices and hardships of her childhood.

Growing up in a single-working-mom family, Tara had few school friends because she could never bring friends home, (the few attempts were abysmal failures). "I wanted friends to be able to open the fridge and get a snack without fear of what they might find there, collapse on a sofa, put their feet up on a coffee table... There were no coffee tables in our house. What little furniture we had was arranged around the edges of a large Chinese carpet... In the place where there should have been comfort, there was only emptiness."

However, Tara's memories of the garden she grew up in and the happy times spent there encouraged her to have hope that dreams can still come true. When her mother buys a house in Seattle with a large, neglected garden and orchard, the author's dreams are about to become reality... or so she thinks.

"My obsession with dining tables was not new. My first big purchase in Seattle, before I ever thought I would live there, had been a dining table with long benches. It seemed like a symbol of the life I was yearning for - one that was slower, where we were all less busy and I could gather friends and family around for meals that lingered. The truth is I barely had any friends in Seattle at the time, and my family was held together by the most tenuous threads, but if I had the table, maybe they would come."

The first half of "Orchard House" went a little slowly for me. I do love gardens and I love to work in my garden, but the repeated observations of various plants, soils, and the changing seasons began to get a little tedious. But then suddenly the book seems to take off (I do wonder if this was written initially as a series of essays), and there are anecdotes and lessons that are not to be missed.

For instance, when the author bakes a raspberry pie made from her garden berry bushes, realizes she can't possibly eat it all herself, and invites a couple friends over... but, they will see her mess! They might notice the weeds, the piled up garden tools, the mounds of compost and broken flowerpots...

"Perhaps the secret was finding comfort in the way things were: a process of accepting rather than hiding.

The irony was that I liked it when other people let me see them as they truly were: less-than-perfect houses, disordered garages, overdue library books. The imperfections in my friends' lives didn't make me like them any less - they made me like them more. I felt more comfortable with the flaws in my own life, more intimately connected to them; it made me feel like family.

I knew this intellectually, but it was harder to apply. I might be able to appreciate rustic charm in a pie, to enjoy the comfortable clutter of a friend's house, but I held myself to a higher standard - one I never managed to achieve. My friends didn't have to be perfect. I just couldn't give myself that same compassion."

There are chapters on mulching (first time I've ever heard of 'sheet mulching'), a pruning disaster and the time it took to recover from it, and a Thanksgiving dinner made solely from garden produce. There are gardening secrets and the long dark and dreary winters to get through, brightened by planning the next year's garden. And there are happy days when the author's nieces romp through their grandmother's property, bringing out a playful side in her mother that she had never seen before.

I enjoyed this book and this is certainly not going to be a one-time read.

[Torrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this was just a delight for me to read.

I followed Tara's ("Tea's") blog for years, but it took me forever to finally get my hands on a copy of the memoir she published a few years back. Obviously, being a gardener/flower farmer myself, I loved that this revolved around bringing a neglected garden and orchard back to life, but I also loved her honest but hopeful look at the messiness of family and her message that it's never too late to try and build and strengthen relationships.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed like such a sweet story, but I could not get into it. I tried it twice. Got about 75% through the book and started skipping pages - then I thought the story could wrap up and I flip the page and there was a part 3 uggg. I had to throw in the towel. Not finishing books is hard for me, but this did not hold my interest.

[Dorine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir of a garden renewal mixed with the imperfections of family dynamics, ORCHARD HOUSE will touch your heart and encourage your return to the land for your sustenance.

Raising two children alone had been difficult for her mother, but Tara Austen Weaver has fond memories as a child when her family moved to the country. Her mother fed Tara and her brother from the many fruits and vegetables she grew, until they had to move back to the city. Years later and miles apart, their mother is once again considering a house with a large garden. Can they undertake this task and grow a garden plus reunite as a family?

Tara's brother moved to Seattle and started a family. Tara and her mother lived in different cities in California, while Tara traveled for months at a time. With the birth of her brother's children, grandmother and Aunt Tea-tea are both feeling the pull of those precious babes and their day-to-day growth that they're both missing.

Can this family let go of what is comfortable and start over without fully alienating the distant relationships they've perfected?

Before her mother bids on the property, they sneak back into the garden of the uninhabited home to harvest the blackberries that will go to waste with no one to pick them. Tara's mother hates waste, especially food, which is probably related to her Jewish heritage. Looking around, they realize that a garden the size of Orchard House is a huge undertaking, one that could bankrupt any spare time with the workload. The house itself is in disrepair with its own set of problems. Should Tara's mother, who is seventy-two at that time, take on such a life-changing project? Not one to rest on her laurels, she might feel as though she can do the work with some help, but is it wise?

Author Tara Austen Weaver sets the scene by explaining that her family isn't one who organizes anything together, barely observing birthday celebrations and some holidays. As Tara and her mother pick the blackberries they snuck in to harvest, they begin to discover the treasures under the overgrowth, and that overrun orchard is what convinces her mother to buy the house. Tara is overwhelmed with the project but can't help but dream of future gatherings in the garden of the future.

What follows are the heartaches and joys of growing a garden amongst a family learning to love one another, each family member with faults that have to be worked through, much like nurturing a long neglected garden. It's not an easy journey and oftentimes I found myself relating to their personal struggles, even though my childhood was very different. Our commonality is that mine was filled with growing food with several generations, too, so I think that by similarity, all those who love the idea of a garden, whether you have one or not, will relate to the overabundance and the joys it can bring.

As can be with memoirs sometimes, there were some repetitive thoughts and reminiscing with regret that made me wonder if the family would ever find their peace with one another, let alone from within themselves. I think they have and I enjoyed their journey as well as their honesty. Baring your soul and laying out your fears for the world to read has to be a very scary process. My respect to the author and her family for bearing the burden of truth, however painful, and for pushing for that family unity that is so important.

ORCHARD HOUSE is a good example of the revival of a garden and a way of life, while reminding us that you can feed your body and soul in the process. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to garden, loves to eat what you sow with your own hands, as well as those who enjoy sharing the fruits of those labors with family and friends. ORCHARD HOUSE is an encouraging tale that will touch your back-to-basics spirit.

Reviewed by Dorine, courtesy of TBR Mountain Range. ARC provided by Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrically written memoir about how Tara Austen Weaver grew a garden and in the process came to peace with herself, her family and the tough childhood that left her mother distant and estranged from her daughter. Throughout her adult years, Tara has an on and off again relationship with her mother and brother and they do not see each other often. In her 70's her mother decides to move the same city as her children and buys a home and garden which Tara attends to. In the long journey of becoming a master gardener Tara's mother, and in some ways, her brother, come to count on each other, respect each other and just accept that while their relationships might always be fraught and somewhat difficult that this is OK. The gap between them unexpectedly narrows as they spend time nurturing the common space, the home and garden, between them and make it beautiful and sustaining.

As a city dweller with little interest in gardening I found myself happily immersed in the lengthy and gorgeous descriptions of the fruits and vegetables that grew and the complicated and rewarding work it took to make this happen. My favorite part of the book was to watch Tara create a strong and loving "family" of friends and neighbors. It seemed to me that this gave her the sustenance to wade through her feelings of hurt and isolation from her own family of origin and create the close, authentic relationships that she was longing for. I think it also allowed her to accept that her mother and brother might always be more remote than she wants but that was not because she was flawed or unlovable and that there are many places to go for love. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

[Amber Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reviewing an advanced uncorrected proof I received through the GoodReads' First Read program.

Orchard House is an unflinchingly honest look at the relationship between Weaver and her family. She pulls no punches or tries to make herself better than she is; her flaws are just as evident as her family's. That dedication to realism is what makes the book. Weaver and her family seem like your own family and you're just as invested in her journey as if it's your own. There's no easy fix. That's what makes the book so great.

The book definitely makes the reader want to garden. I learned some things from reading the book. Weaver uses a good mix of technical terms and layman's language to make the story easily understandable to everyone. The book is a quick, easy read that's very entertaining.

The main drawbacks are the number if characters and the nonlinear narrative. There are a lot of people in Weaver's life. Sometimes, it's hard to keep track of who's who and how they fit into her life. Also, it can be a bit difficult to follow the time line. Weaver bounces around a bit, and it can be hard to realize what time of her life we're in.

Overall, though, it's an excellent book and one I recommend it.

[Miriam Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Tara Weaver, a master gardener and a permaculture designer, speak at the BookLoft http://www.bookloft.com/ in German Village, Columbus, OH on April 27th. She who graciously shared her experiences during her talk.

In one long sitting, I devoured this book. I'd say I savored it, but that's too simple a description for this book. I was enchanted, inspired, and, at times, saddened by this memoir. Nevertheless, I wanted to finish it because I connected to strongly, much to my surprise, to many of the stories. I'm a failed gardener. I thought I'd like to dig in my garden, but I would rather look at it. Now I feel inspired to try again in very small steps.

If you love gardens, cooking, and stories about families, Orchard House is the perfect book to dive into. Tara Weaver’s memoir is full of stories of her family, their love and disappointments, fantastic meals plucked from the garden and cooked on the stove. Interwoven within the vignettes are discussions of permaculture, sustainability, and slow food. Gardeners will find this one as full of weeds as their own. Readers will laugh and cry, and definitely relate to the complexity of families and gardens.

I wrote a shorter review for the Columbus Dispatch.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Orchard House is a wonderful story about rebuilding relationships, mending, healing and building a family. It also describes creating a singular life of your own and the value of sharing your personal life with people around you. I really wish I would have read this book long ago.


I found Tara Austen Weaver's book is one of the few books that I will read again.

What a wonderful book!

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another recommended by my "virtual" genealogy book club. (They recommend the book, interview the author, but I wish there were more opportunity to exchange thoughts about the book, oh well). A memoir of a family trying to be more of a family as seen from the perspective of the author. Interesting observations on what life is all about and how we humans try to live it.

[Deb Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book would have been much more enjoyable if the timeline and stories were less disjointed. It was rare to get the point of some the stories. Even more difficult to figure out when did these things occur in a relationship to the timeline of the story. It felt slightly like a prolonged whine in parts. That said I did enjoy many parts. So all in all, a mixed bag.

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming foodie/gardening memoir that had potential to be another Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, but falls short of the mark because the author's garden is borrowed from her mother and she spends much of the book dissecting their relationship, which too often dwindles into motherblame. The book's redeeming qualities include fascinating anecdotes/discussions about gardening, food, and community that make it worth owning (I highlighted my copy like crazy!) as well as an abundance of great quotables. The book really gets the most thought-provoking/engaging towards the end so it took me a while to get through the first part because at the onset I thought it was just going to be another whiney motherblame memoir, but this one offers so much more, so I encourage disengaged readers to stick with it. The author offers up a lot of wisdom and insight that definitely made this worth reading, and I am proud to have this title in my library--I consider it a keeper and definitely recommend it. Also, it maked me *really* want to take up gardening, a pastime I have despised ever since my childhood weed-pulling days, so the book earns extra kudos for changing my mind on that score! :)

[Tanya T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Her descriptions of the orchard made me really want to visit this place! It wasn’t just about the orchard either. I can really empathize with the author and her craving for a sense of family and close friendships. Raised by a stern, fiercely independent ,perfectionist mother the Author yearned for the kind of hugs,kisses and loving encouragement you find on popular tv shows of the 60’s and 70’s. It’s not that her mother didn’t love her children, she just showed it in different ways. As the Author’s mother ages and they both decide to move closer to each other, they bond over the many chores needed to keep the orchard growing. The author learns to relish the moments with her small nieces and nephew and even her aging, sometimes stubborn mother. She finds her own sense of community amoung her neighbors and fellow gardeners. This is definitely a “feel good” kind of book.

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like stories about gardening, food, family gatherings and a dysfunctional mother daughter relationship, this memoir has it all. As is the way with all opposites, Tara Austen Weaver and her feisty mother have never really taken the time to get to know each other. Having just bought a big old timber house, with half an acre of overgrown garden in Seattle, Tara hopes to finally make a home for herself, a home that family and friends will fill. Restoring the garden back to its full production of fruit trees and vegetables starts a journey for both these women. Family gatherings, a sense of community and being able to please her mother are things Tara has craved all her life. I liked the way she refers to her mother as a hummingbird - never at rest, always working! Now, working together, it's the garden and its demanding control over them that starts to work some magic. I'm going to miss my daily fix of reading this excellent memoir.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is fictional, I came away with the impression that it was quite autobiographical. The story is told through the viewpoint of an adult female in mid-life, living her current life in Seattle, where she not only has her writing career and friends, but she looks after her younger brother's children some and her mother's yard a lot! Her mother is no slacker either. The lady raised her two children alone in California, and growing food has been a necessity in those days. Now, it has become a daily hobby. The daughter flashes back several times to either her childhood or her early adult life living in San Francisco. But the main story revolves around her mother's yard, which becomes a garden, an orchard, and a place for a family to put roots and make memories.

[Mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked: The imagery was beautiful. I imagined fruit trees in my own garden for the first time in my life. I love gardens and geese I feel and this book made me love it even more.

What I didn't like: The author's difficult childhood and relationship with her mother was hard to read. Sometimes I was upset with her for being so selfish, so self-centered, so insensitive. Couldn't she see how vulnerable her mother was? How much her mother needed something she might never get, never find?

Yet I understand the author's own frustrations including not being able to easily love or be loved. A first world problem for sure but a hard one nonetheless.