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Six Square Metres: Reflections from a Small Garden
Sometimes you reap what you sow. Sometimes you reap what other people sowed. Sometimes you haven't got a clue what you are sowing, and sometimes you just get lucky, or unlucky. All these things are true of life, as of gardening.
In this thoughtful and beautifully observed book, journalist and gardening enthusiast Margaret Simons takes readers on a journey through the seasons, through her life, and through the tiny patch of inner-urban earth that is home to her garden.
Over the course of a year, within the garden and without, there are births to celebrate and deaths to mourn; there are periods of great happiness and light, and times of quiet reflection. There is, in other words, all the chaos, joy, sorrow, and splendor of being alive.
In this thoughtful and beautifully observed book, journalist and gardening enthusiast Margaret Simons takes readers on a journey through the seasons, through her life, and through the tiny patch of inner-urban earth that is home to her garden.
Over the course of a year, within the garden and without, there are births to celebrate and deaths to mourn; there are periods of great happiness and light, and times of quiet reflection. There is, in other words, all the chaos, joy, sorrow, and splendor of being alive.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2015
10 people are currently reading
209 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Simons
26 books21 followersMargaret Simons (b 1960) is an Australian academic, freelance journalist and author. She is currently the media commentator for Crikey and has written ten books.
She is currently Director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of Melbourne.
Simons was a finalist for a Walkley Award for journalism in 2007 for the story Buried in the Labyrinth, about the release of a pedophile into the community, published in Griffith Review and her book The Content Makers – Understanding the Future of the Australian Media was longlisted for the 2008 non-fiction book Walkley award.
Simons also writes for The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Monthly. For many years, she wrote the "Earthmother" gardening column for The Australian.
Simons has a doctorate from the University of Technology, Sydney and was co-founder, with Melissa Sweet, of the community-funded news site YouComm News. She lives in Melbourne.
(from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare...)
She is currently Director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of Melbourne.
Simons was a finalist for a Walkley Award for journalism in 2007 for the story Buried in the Labyrinth, about the release of a pedophile into the community, published in Griffith Review and her book The Content Makers – Understanding the Future of the Australian Media was longlisted for the 2008 non-fiction book Walkley award.
Simons also writes for The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Monthly. For many years, she wrote the "Earthmother" gardening column for The Australian.
Simons has a doctorate from the University of Technology, Sydney and was co-founder, with Melissa Sweet, of the community-funded news site YouComm News. She lives in Melbourne.
(from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare...)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 2, 2015
Who would have considered that over 100 pages could be woven of memories, thoughts and how it links in to a garden.
Margaret, already an accomplished writer, has penned a beautiful piece from the heart. Anyone who has ever grown anything in their lives, will nod in agreement throughout this text as we, the humble stumbling green thumbs, can smile at each piece of relation that can only come between Gardeners and how life is better with dirt under the nails.
The writing is dreamy and calming, a confused rural garden squashed into a suburban six meters with a commercial big chain eatery next door. Margaret is inventive and I even learnt a thing or two to apply to my garden. It inspires and soothes the soul in the same way tending a garden does.
I loved that Margaret split each section into a season, so we know we shared about a year of her life and intimate thoughts.
It is a little book of green wonder, and I'd recommend to anyway who has time for a small book on life and gardens.
I received this book free as part of GoodReads FirstRead giveaway in exchange for a fair honest review.
Margaret, already an accomplished writer, has penned a beautiful piece from the heart. Anyone who has ever grown anything in their lives, will nod in agreement throughout this text as we, the humble stumbling green thumbs, can smile at each piece of relation that can only come between Gardeners and how life is better with dirt under the nails.
The writing is dreamy and calming, a confused rural garden squashed into a suburban six meters with a commercial big chain eatery next door. Margaret is inventive and I even learnt a thing or two to apply to my garden. It inspires and soothes the soul in the same way tending a garden does.
I loved that Margaret split each section into a season, so we know we shared about a year of her life and intimate thoughts.
It is a little book of green wonder, and I'd recommend to anyway who has time for a small book on life and gardens.
I received this book free as part of GoodReads FirstRead giveaway in exchange for a fair honest review.
February 28, 2018
Organised into four chapters named for the seasons, Six Square Metres is the warts-and-all story of Margaret Simon’s tiny garden in inner-suburban Melbourne. It is not a garden that can conform to expert advice because its location means that there is very little sunlight in the back garden and she is reduced to growing shade-tolerant vegies in raised beds while growing more demanding plants in pots that live on her roof. Many of her plants sulk because they are not only planted in the wrong kind of environment – she is always hopeful that she will be able to break the rules of gardening – but also because she neglects them when she is busy. (Simons is one of Australia’s very best freelance journalists. I’ve reviewed one of her books here).
The sulky plants in her garden are due to a combination of what she calls her culpable neglect and general incompetence – but she is unrepentant:
Simons has the same problems as we do with zucchini: the first few humble little ones are a joy to eat, but we soon get sick of ratatouille, zucchini fritters, zucchini cake, and zucchini muffins – and likewise we also don’t care to stuff marrows from when zucchini have been left to grow monstrous and fat like overgrown phallic symbols. (However I don’t feel this way about excess tomatoes or pumpkins, because they store well, and our current crop of excess cucumbers is making an excellent pickle.)
Yet despite these challenges she finds the garden a comfort in a crazy world and she considers herself a failure if she has to buy vegetables from a shop.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/02/28/s...
The sulky plants in her garden are due to a combination of what she calls her culpable neglect and general incompetence – but she is unrepentant:
…gardening books are to gardening what childcare books are to babies, pornography to sex, Home Beautiful magazine to housing, and a literal reading of the Bible to Christianity. Counsels of perfection don’t work for me. I am too messy. I am not a fundamentalist. My edges are not clipped; my tomatoes sprawl unpruned and unstaked. (p.5)
Simons has the same problems as we do with zucchini: the first few humble little ones are a joy to eat, but we soon get sick of ratatouille, zucchini fritters, zucchini cake, and zucchini muffins – and likewise we also don’t care to stuff marrows from when zucchini have been left to grow monstrous and fat like overgrown phallic symbols. (However I don’t feel this way about excess tomatoes or pumpkins, because they store well, and our current crop of excess cucumbers is making an excellent pickle.)
Yet despite these challenges she finds the garden a comfort in a crazy world and she considers herself a failure if she has to buy vegetables from a shop.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/02/28/s...
October 12, 2015
My View:
This is an endearing and poignant read. Margaret Simons has a quiet and peaceful voice – it seems to me that she is content and happy with her life and her garden and this contentedness nourishes the reader and the writer alike. So calm and peaceful – I loved reading this book.
If you are a gardener or a consumer of fresh produce or have a family, live in the city or the country, you will be able to relate to individual stories or situations in this book. This memoir is short on pages, big on life.
This is an endearing and poignant read. Margaret Simons has a quiet and peaceful voice – it seems to me that she is content and happy with her life and her garden and this contentedness nourishes the reader and the writer alike. So calm and peaceful – I loved reading this book.
If you are a gardener or a consumer of fresh produce or have a family, live in the city or the country, you will be able to relate to individual stories or situations in this book. This memoir is short on pages, big on life.
January 5, 2019
Loved it, loved it, loved it! I could go into a whole lot of detail here, but why ruin the sheer bliss for anyone else reading this beautiful book. It's chatty, it's about the simple things in life that matter and I'll say it again - I loved it.
December 30, 2017
I really enjoyed this one! The cover was quite alluring, but more than that there is a rich enjoyment reading about one's inner thoughts while gardening and linking them to the life they are living. It's humble, yet sassy and funny, and not so long that it makes you want to postpone reading it. I couldn't stop and I was happy to continue.
A lot of references, but they weren't too confusing, in fact I was quite interested to learn more about them. I also found the author to be knowledgeable and eloquent, thus keeping me engaged and helping me to learn more about the pleasures of gardening. :)
A lot of references, but they weren't too confusing, in fact I was quite interested to learn more about them. I also found the author to be knowledgeable and eloquent, thus keeping me engaged and helping me to learn more about the pleasures of gardening. :)
October 4, 2015
Thank you to Hatchette books for the First reads giveaway.
This was a perfect book that set a garden like my own to think over. Margaret has put a year of thoughts and garden tips into this book and yes I garden like it. I learnt from it and felt like it was my own garden journey.
This was a perfect book that set a garden like my own to think over. Margaret has put a year of thoughts and garden tips into this book and yes I garden like it. I learnt from it and felt like it was my own garden journey.
December 25, 2018
This is a lovely, gentle, meditative read. I love Simons approach to gardening and her style in this book. This is a perfect read to chill on a warm Christmas break. When I come back from my next trip, I may restart my composting and pop some herbs into my garden.
August 15, 2020
Loved it!
May 17, 2020
DNF at 43%
As a gardener and a reader, I had different expectations for this book. I expected something insightful, observations on the nature of gardening. Instead, I had such an extreme disconnect with the author that made it difficult to read, much less enjoy, the book. Then, due to her actions at 43%, I decided that it was not worth continuing to read.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As a gardener and a reader, I had different expectations for this book. I expected something insightful, observations on the nature of gardening. Instead, I had such an extreme disconnect with the author that made it difficult to read, much less enjoy, the book. Then, due to her actions at 43%, I decided that it was not worth continuing to read.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 30, 2016
I love a good rambling memoir. As the author says, time in the garden is good for reflection. This book opens up all manner of reflection on family, beginnings and endings, writing, planting and reaping, nature and resurrection.
Margaret loves her garden. Small and messy as it is. She relates of her garden awakening which took place in a ramshackle share house when she was at university. Where an old garden plot that had a marijuana crop was removed in a fit of paranoia, and then left barren. Margaret relented and began to grow plants that bloomed. Who knew marijuana was such a good fertilizer!
Margaret derides garden ‘experts’ who insist on perfection in a garden. Insisting there is no right way to plant. Just give it a go seems to be her mantra. The reader is taken a seasonal discovery tour, starting in summer. Recollections fill these pages. As the garden becomes the connector through life’s many ups and downs. Margaret shares her previous homes and companions, gardens and life’s struggles.
Her life as a journalist and writer take centre stage as she relates garden metaphors with politicians. She also delves into trying to understand the nature of loss, death and the duality of life. The cycles of nature. It is highly readable and absorbing reading. As someone who adores the idea of a garden but not the actual work this is an inspiring read. Gardeners do not need to obey all the rules, and an eye for experimentation is a good thing. The book is also very attractive - a small pretty blue patterned hardback. I know so many people that would love this book.
Margaret loves her garden. Small and messy as it is. She relates of her garden awakening which took place in a ramshackle share house when she was at university. Where an old garden plot that had a marijuana crop was removed in a fit of paranoia, and then left barren. Margaret relented and began to grow plants that bloomed. Who knew marijuana was such a good fertilizer!
Margaret derides garden ‘experts’ who insist on perfection in a garden. Insisting there is no right way to plant. Just give it a go seems to be her mantra. The reader is taken a seasonal discovery tour, starting in summer. Recollections fill these pages. As the garden becomes the connector through life’s many ups and downs. Margaret shares her previous homes and companions, gardens and life’s struggles.
Her life as a journalist and writer take centre stage as she relates garden metaphors with politicians. She also delves into trying to understand the nature of loss, death and the duality of life. The cycles of nature. It is highly readable and absorbing reading. As someone who adores the idea of a garden but not the actual work this is an inspiring read. Gardeners do not need to obey all the rules, and an eye for experimentation is a good thing. The book is also very attractive - a small pretty blue patterned hardback. I know so many people that would love this book.
October 10, 2015
This is a gentle little read about a woman reflecting on life with her garden as a reference point - a year in the life of her garden mixed with her on reflections on family and life. It starts out beautifully, with relate-able anecdotes and stories. However, as the book went on, I found I had less connection with the author and her stories. This is a woman clearly passionate about her garden and at times concerned with the world. Would recommend to those who feel a connection to the living world as a reference point for their lives.
I received this book as a Goodreads First Read in exchange for honest feedback.
I received this book as a Goodreads First Read in exchange for honest feedback.
January 29, 2016
The writer gardens in a tiny patch in inner suburban Melbourne but in this book she has touched on her gardening in Sydney and the Blue Mountains as well. Sometimes this is meditative, sometimes practical but it is always readable. There are four small sections to cover the four seasons and the book only barely adds up to one hundred pages but it is a sheer delight. Her thoughts wander just like they do in the garden, family, what to do with hair cuttings, a visit to Shanghai, supermarket shopping, goats, chooks.
I am not a gardener although I used to read Margaret Simons' columns on her garden when she lived in the Blue Mountains and I was as charmed with this lovely book.
I am not a gardener although I used to read Margaret Simons' columns on her garden when she lived in the Blue Mountains and I was as charmed with this lovely book.
February 19, 2017
Such a gorgeous little book, an absolute gem. Gardening, family, life and loss, humour – all rolled into the four seasons. It's a modern philosophical treatise that is just so enjoyable to read, and Simons' writing is warm, tender and insightful.
And it made me very strongly want to embark on my own journey of growing things and creating a garden to nurture – I'm now desperate for a large veggie patch!
And it made me very strongly want to embark on my own journey of growing things and creating a garden to nurture – I'm now desperate for a large veggie patch!
March 5, 2016
A lovely easy read. I enjoyed the metaphors made between events of gardening through the seasons with events in life. Such events did not need to be momentous but often a reflection of the ordinary happenings of everyday life. We can all relate :)
January 17, 2016
A lovely lovely read!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves gardening, life and vegetables.
Simon's has a great dry sense of humour, and an ability to pepper her observations about plants and the world of the garden with wonderful musings on life.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves gardening, life and vegetables.
Simon's has a great dry sense of humour, and an ability to pepper her observations about plants and the world of the garden with wonderful musings on life.
June 26, 2016
The four seasons in a small Melbourne (Australia) garden are thoughtfully and beautifully described in this delightful book. The highs and lows and good times and bad are all recounted with great wit and honesty in this little gem of a book.
April 2, 2016
Thoughtful reflection on gardening imperfectly in a challenging location and the joy and frustration that brings
March 28, 2017
A comforting book, calms me down. I read it with cup of tea while enjoying my lush green garden at the moment. If you like gardening you find yourself in the book.
May 5, 2021
The musings of a gardener on the other part of the world. So nice to read about a gardener in Australia and what she can grow. The book is divided into the 4 seasons and mainly writes about growing vegetable. Although her description of the moonflower peeked my interest in trying to grow it on the other side of the world. There were many funny parts like the advice she got from a garden book when you know you can plant bean and peas in your garden (if your bare bottom doesn't feel the cold earth you can plant them). I laughed at that advice and like the author imagined what the neighbours would say seeing their crazy neighbour bare bottomed in the garden. The author grows mainly vegetable and fruit trees. Along with her descriptions of experimenting with her garden she also write some advice (mix newspapers, blood, bone, and straw in the garden).
A great read.
A great read.
July 1, 2021
3.5 stars. A relatively quick read, this is a collection of essays by an amateur gardener and journalist who lives in Melbourne, Australia. While Simons focuses on vegetables and I tend to grow flowers, I could still identify with many of her observations.. Both gardening and culture seem to be relatively global in many ways. The book is organized by season, but of course Australia’s seasons are the opposite of the seasons in the U.S.—Christmas there is in summer. She lives near a McDonald’s and watches Game of Thrones, but then there’s a mention of quolls eating the chooks. I knew chooks are chickens—my mother is Australian MDB uses that word. I had to look up quoll, a carnivorous nocturnal marsupial with a spotted coat like a fawn. And there were one or two other words I had to look up, like tilth, which I will rmember as what you till.
Overall, I enjoyed this light read.
Overall, I enjoyed this light read.
May 11, 2018
Oh so heartwarming. I’m tempted to buy this book next time.
I’ve just started gardening, but I’ve shared many of her feelings already. The stories are written beautifully, and poignantly as well. I laugh, smile, and smirk with each of her anecdote.
If you love gardening and good writing, look no further. Oh, and I really, really like her writing.
I’ve just started gardening, but I’ve shared many of her feelings already. The stories are written beautifully, and poignantly as well. I laugh, smile, and smirk with each of her anecdote.
If you love gardening and good writing, look no further. Oh, and I really, really like her writing.
July 1, 2021
Nice short novel. Wasn't impressed with the negative overtone of gardening in the novel. Not much grows well in the women's garden apparently (at least I remember lots of talk about things not growing, trying to kill off a cactus, and not taking the time to actually water the garden!). Wished I could have heard more about bountiful harvests, or her family appreciating the garden.
December 28, 2022
A beautifully written series of reflections from the owner of a small inner city garden where every inch is utilised- and more created via polystyrene crates siting on the roof. The pleasure obtained through the process of annual activities is a reminder of that cliche- taking time to smell the roses.
January 10, 2024
"To write well you must first write what you know." And Margaret Simons did just that. There were some hard truths in there: being a gardener isn't all rainbows but heck, I didn't think about how you'd have to kill other living organisms. But I thoroughly enjoyed her insight into how plants and the cycle of gardening is a mirror to life.
April 18, 2021
As a young person trying to find their place in the world, this book taught me to keep grounded, reflective, and that there's beauty and community all around. This book was like a bowl of chicken soup; perfect for starting off this cool autumn holiday. A must read!
July 27, 2022
Just the kind of gardening book I love and adore. No pictures, just musings on gardening and various gardens the author has produced. It is a lovely meditation on life, expectations, mortality, and gardens.
March 29, 2022
Lovely!
August 11, 2024
An insight into a life and gardening in inner (ish) city Melbourne - quite unique to Melbourne and a lovely read - I’d like to read more of her garden writing.
Read
October 6, 2020In Six Square Metres Margaret Simons, queen of the tiny vegetable garden, heartened me with her radiant pragmatism.
Helen Garner, The Saturday Age
[A] considered and meticulously observed book written by an author who is willing to share the tribulations and joys of a blended family, a fast-paced life and the endless smell of French fries. By doing so, she permits us to consider our own plot — in life and in gardening.
Chris Gordon, Readings
Packed with wit, wisdom and the occasional gardening tip.
Brisbane News
It’s a testament to Simons’ wit and humour that a book on “gardening-related reflections” held my interest so. The vignettes range from musings on life, death and human connections to likening John Howard to a brassica and uncovering the leg of a Barbie doll in the compost. A delightful ode to the rhythm of the seasons and “life continuing in messy fashion no matter what plans we make.
Shu-Ling Chua, BMA Magazine — Top 5 Books of 2015
In the tradition of Germaine Greer, Vita Sackville-West, and Katharine S. White, Simons proves herself a modern doyenne of wry garden writing.
Publishers Weekly
A mix of sunny optimism and beady-eyed realism, Simons’s memoir celebrates the small joys and ‘sheer stubborn hope’ of both gardening and family life.
Shelf Awareness
Helen Garner, The Saturday Age
[A] considered and meticulously observed book written by an author who is willing to share the tribulations and joys of a blended family, a fast-paced life and the endless smell of French fries. By doing so, she permits us to consider our own plot — in life and in gardening.
Chris Gordon, Readings
Packed with wit, wisdom and the occasional gardening tip.
Brisbane News
It’s a testament to Simons’ wit and humour that a book on “gardening-related reflections” held my interest so. The vignettes range from musings on life, death and human connections to likening John Howard to a brassica and uncovering the leg of a Barbie doll in the compost. A delightful ode to the rhythm of the seasons and “life continuing in messy fashion no matter what plans we make.
Shu-Ling Chua, BMA Magazine — Top 5 Books of 2015
In the tradition of Germaine Greer, Vita Sackville-West, and Katharine S. White, Simons proves herself a modern doyenne of wry garden writing.
Publishers Weekly
A mix of sunny optimism and beady-eyed realism, Simons’s memoir celebrates the small joys and ‘sheer stubborn hope’ of both gardening and family life.
Shelf Awareness
Read
October 6, 2020In Six Square Metres Margaret Simons, queen of the tiny vegetable garden, heartened me with her radiant pragmatism.
Helen Garner, The Saturday Age
[A] considered and meticulously observed book written by an author who is willing to share the tribulations and joys of a blended family, a fast-paced life and the endless smell of French fries. By doing so, she permits us to consider our own plot — in life and in gardening.
Chris Gordon, Readings
Packed with wit, wisdom and the occasional gardening tip.
Brisbane News
It’s a testament to Simons’ wit and humour that a book on “gardening-related reflections” held my interest so. The vignettes range from musings on life, death and human connections to likening John Howard to a brassica and uncovering the leg of a Barbie doll in the compost. A delightful ode to the rhythm of the seasons and “life continuing in messy fashion no matter what plans we make.
Shu-Ling Chua, BMA Magazine — Top 5 Books of 2015
In the tradition of Germaine Greer, Vita Sackville-West, and Katharine S. White, Simons proves herself a modern doyenne of wry garden writing.
Publishers Weekly
A mix of sunny optimism and beady-eyed realism, Simons’s memoir celebrates the small joys and ‘sheer stubborn hope’ of both gardening and family life.
Shelf Awareness
Helen Garner, The Saturday Age
[A] considered and meticulously observed book written by an author who is willing to share the tribulations and joys of a blended family, a fast-paced life and the endless smell of French fries. By doing so, she permits us to consider our own plot — in life and in gardening.
Chris Gordon, Readings
Packed with wit, wisdom and the occasional gardening tip.
Brisbane News
It’s a testament to Simons’ wit and humour that a book on “gardening-related reflections” held my interest so. The vignettes range from musings on life, death and human connections to likening John Howard to a brassica and uncovering the leg of a Barbie doll in the compost. A delightful ode to the rhythm of the seasons and “life continuing in messy fashion no matter what plans we make.
Shu-Ling Chua, BMA Magazine — Top 5 Books of 2015
In the tradition of Germaine Greer, Vita Sackville-West, and Katharine S. White, Simons proves herself a modern doyenne of wry garden writing.
Publishers Weekly
A mix of sunny optimism and beady-eyed realism, Simons’s memoir celebrates the small joys and ‘sheer stubborn hope’ of both gardening and family life.
Shelf Awareness
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews