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In the Garden: Essays on Nature and Growing
Gardening, then, is a practice of sustained noticing . . .’
Outdoor space is something everyone should have access to. But you don’t need a garden to become a gardener.
Growing plants and vegetables forces us to pause, pay attention and look more closely. From the vantage point of even the smallest windowsill garden we can observe the passing of time through the shifting of the seasons, as well as the environmental changes the planet is undergoing.
In this collection of essays, fourteen writers go beyond simply considering a plot of soil to explore how gardening is a shared language, an opportunity for connection, something that is always evolving. Penelope Lively trains her gardening eye on her gardens past and present; Paul Mendez reflects on the image of the paradisal garden; Jon Day asks whether an urban community garden can be a radical place; and Victoria Adukwei Bulley considers the power of herbs and why there is no such thing as a weed.
A collection about gardening unlike any other, In the Garden brings together fourteen brilliant writers to interrogate what is most important and pressing about growing today.
Outdoor space is something everyone should have access to. But you don’t need a garden to become a gardener.
Growing plants and vegetables forces us to pause, pay attention and look more closely. From the vantage point of even the smallest windowsill garden we can observe the passing of time through the shifting of the seasons, as well as the environmental changes the planet is undergoing.
In this collection of essays, fourteen writers go beyond simply considering a plot of soil to explore how gardening is a shared language, an opportunity for connection, something that is always evolving. Penelope Lively trains her gardening eye on her gardens past and present; Paul Mendez reflects on the image of the paradisal garden; Jon Day asks whether an urban community garden can be a radical place; and Victoria Adukwei Bulley considers the power of herbs and why there is no such thing as a weed.
A collection about gardening unlike any other, In the Garden brings together fourteen brilliant writers to interrogate what is most important and pressing about growing today.
- GenresNonfictionEssaysNature
105 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 25, 2021
21 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
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Various
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If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 6, 2022
Sobre la necesidad de tener un jardín —y de dónde viene esa necesidad—, sobre la belleza de cuidarlo y verlo crecer, o de crear uno junto a alguien, sobre los beneficios de tener un espacio natural como refugio, sobre la importancia de la democratización de los parques y los espacios públicos. De todo eso habla esta colección de ensayos que me ha gustado muchísimo.
Es una pena que no esté traducido al español, porque es un libro que disfrutaría mucha gente.
Es una pena que no esté traducido al español, porque es un libro que disfrutaría mucha gente.
May 17, 2024
A thought-provoking collection of essays exploring “the garden” and what it means for us as human beings. Some are more scientific, some are more poetic, some are more autobiographical, but all are excellent.
Owen’s Review: 5/5 milk bottles, ready to throw on my overalls and go play in the dirt to do some gardening.
Owen’s Review: 5/5 milk bottles, ready to throw on my overalls and go play in the dirt to do some gardening.
October 4, 2022
I expected a very poetic and deep exploration of exploration of nature and oneself and the interconnectedness between the two but all I got was some essays about gardens. I mean, it is all in the title but also not really.
Thus, my big expectations made this book a tad less enjoyable. The essays are nice and cute and have nice insights. It is great to have many different perspectives on one same topic - you're bound to find one that speaks at least a little bit to you.
What I take home from this book is mostly the philosophical enquiry into the concept of The Garden. I now toy with some thoughts and questions regularly, as it turns out this concept is somehow an open door to many different topics: Is the garden purely a place of evasion and enjoyment, isolated from the rest of the world - just like the Epicurean garden, or even the Garden of Eden i.e. OG Paradise? Can it be political? Can tending to a garden be an act of resistance, an act of subversion? Thus, is gardening an act of escapism or activism? Or on another line of thought: is the garden truly a place of connection with nature? And if so, which kind of nature? A nature that is controlled, where we still assert our human dominance? Is it then just a way to be surrounded by the illusion of nature while still feeling safe, avoiding the sublime?
More questions: will these questions ever be elaborated into anything mildly coherent or productive? Probably not! But happy to divagate about The Garden anytime. Find me for some fun conversations xoxoxox
Thus, my big expectations made this book a tad less enjoyable. The essays are nice and cute and have nice insights. It is great to have many different perspectives on one same topic - you're bound to find one that speaks at least a little bit to you.
What I take home from this book is mostly the philosophical enquiry into the concept of The Garden. I now toy with some thoughts and questions regularly, as it turns out this concept is somehow an open door to many different topics: Is the garden purely a place of evasion and enjoyment, isolated from the rest of the world - just like the Epicurean garden, or even the Garden of Eden i.e. OG Paradise? Can it be political? Can tending to a garden be an act of resistance, an act of subversion? Thus, is gardening an act of escapism or activism? Or on another line of thought: is the garden truly a place of connection with nature? And if so, which kind of nature? A nature that is controlled, where we still assert our human dominance? Is it then just a way to be surrounded by the illusion of nature while still feeling safe, avoiding the sublime?
More questions: will these questions ever be elaborated into anything mildly coherent or productive? Probably not! But happy to divagate about The Garden anytime. Find me for some fun conversations xoxoxox
May 5, 2025
An interesting and short collection of fourteen stories about the garden - exploring everything from community, class, to sustainability through the lens of gardens and gardening. I’ve been thinking more about how connected to nature I can be while city-bound, and this book has convinced me it is not only possible but essential. As a bonus it comes in at a short 160 pages. Stand-outs include:
● Francesca Wade’s “A Common Inheritance” - On the nature of London’s pocket gardens, their history, and their divisive use as a social class separator.
● Caroline Craig’s “Just Call Me Alan” - On the French potager or kitchen garden (translated literally "for the soup pot"). It explores the functional way many traditional French households create a varied year-round supply of food. It also functioned as a well-needed reminder to finish the final book in Peter Mayle’s Provence series.
● Francesca Wade’s “A Common Inheritance” - On the nature of London’s pocket gardens, their history, and their divisive use as a social class separator.
● Caroline Craig’s “Just Call Me Alan” - On the French potager or kitchen garden (translated literally "for the soup pot"). It explores the functional way many traditional French households create a varied year-round supply of food. It also functioned as a well-needed reminder to finish the final book in Peter Mayle’s Provence series.
June 30, 2024
Perhaps after loving In the Kitchen so much, and knowing how much I love gardens, my expectations/excitement was a bit too high. Perhaps I am a littttlllee disappointed. It was more uneven for me as a collection than the previous one, and I am somewhat surprised by this. That said, I still enjoyed it—the essays are short, often beautiful. But it just wasn’t exactly what I was looking—hoping—for for a collection of essays about gardens. I’m not exactly sure what I was looking/hoping for, but it didn’t quite hit it for me. I still think it’s a fun collection to read and I’m looking forward to reading By the River next.
This having been published in 2021, I am realising it is one of the first books I read that references and talks about the lockdowns/pandemic so much. Which both feels weirdly distant already, and yet too soon at the same time.
My fave essays were, I think: A Common Inheritance, by Francesca Wade; Companion Planting, by Jon Day; Putting the Breaks On, by Niellah Arboine; Looking at the Garden, by Claire Lowdon.
This having been published in 2021, I am realising it is one of the first books I read that references and talks about the lockdowns/pandemic so much. Which both feels weirdly distant already, and yet too soon at the same time.
My fave essays were, I think: A Common Inheritance, by Francesca Wade; Companion Planting, by Jon Day; Putting the Breaks On, by Niellah Arboine; Looking at the Garden, by Claire Lowdon.
March 24, 2024
loved this, especially enjoyed Jon Day’s ‘Companion Planting’. incredibly inspiring stories from people from a variety of backgrounds and found the impact of gardening on mental health particularly interesting- although slightly jarring to read so much about covid/lockdown which still feels like yesterday to me🤪
August 1, 2025
Short and sweet and smelling of earth.
August 7, 2021
Overall some touching moments that opened my eyes to the world of plants and the beauty inherent in growth. Individually, however, I definitely enjoyed some essays more than others, of which a few felt a bit plot-less and stilted. A few of my favourites included: A Common Inheritance, Coming of Age, and Companion Planting. Definitely a book more to dip in and out of rather than read all at once as they did end up a bit muddled in my mind.
December 12, 2024
2024 bk 172. A quiet and gentle read for when the times are too exciting. Different folks from Nigel Slater to Jamaica Kincaid share their stories and gardens with us. From the visits to large estates to the small vegetable patch in the backyard, they all speak to the beauty of plants and the work involved in coaxing new plants into existence. I enjoyed the majority of the essays in this collection and will return to it when I need my winter gardening fix.
August 27, 2025
I loved In the Pond so I decided to read this book. It was patchy and this is mostly because it's not about being in the garden, it's about politics, the state of the world, relationships, etc.
While I did enjoy some of the more horticultural essays I found the rest, which were the majority, annoying. That is not why I picked the book up - to read something that rarely mentions plants or soil or the beauty of flowers and vege growing.
While I did enjoy some of the more horticultural essays I found the rest, which were the majority, annoying. That is not why I picked the book up - to read something that rarely mentions plants or soil or the beauty of flowers and vege growing.
December 1, 2021
A range of moving essays that cover histories, communities and futures in the context of gardening. I felt transported to each contributors experience of their garden ecology and learned a great deal from them.
I can only hope second, third and forth volumes are created, is this was highly refreshing and fun.
I’m off to tap into my own green fingers now...
I can only hope second, third and forth volumes are created, is this was highly refreshing and fun.
I’m off to tap into my own green fingers now...
May 9, 2022
Like with all essay collections there were some essays that I enjoyed or got more out of than others, my particular favourites being 'Companion Planting' by Jon Day and 'Putting the Brakes On' by Niellah Arboine.
An interesting and at times informative read for anyone with a love for nature and gardening.
An interesting and at times informative read for anyone with a love for nature and gardening.
May 18, 2022
LOVED THIS! Slowly picked my way through one story at a time, and it always kept me thinking about my connection to and with plants no matter how far I found myself from an actual living plant. Please read. Please plant x
August 8, 2021
4.0 Read for an observation class and my book club.
October 14, 2021
Some really moving essays and refreshing perspectives which you don't come across often in garden writing.
April 3, 2022
i'll find a place somewhere in the corner
May 27, 2022
Lovely collection
August 10, 2022
Soul-cleansing
April 14, 2023
A mixed bag, some real gems, some fairly pedestrian reflections
August 18, 2025
Definition of the right book at the right time. Really really liked it! Plus: very good source if you are on the hunt for new authors and want to see if you vibe with their writing.
October 12, 2024
Zin om te tuinieren. Hoe de mensen zich begeeft in het levende orgaan van de tuin.
March 14, 2022
This was a lovely, relaxing set of essays by a wide variety of writers. All of them have a love of plants and gardening, whether the plants inside their flat, the allotment of their mother or their back garden.
The book is divided into a number of sections; The Garden Remembered, The Collective Garden, The Language of the Garden, The Sustainable Garden. All of them exude a relaxing atmosphere, you can almost imagine yourself in Nigel Slater's back garden, surrounded by herbs, in the south of France, or in a small sanctuary. Written, or at least compiled during Covid, the essays reveal just how important outdoor space and plants and trees are to our wellbeing.
Interestingly many of the writers trace their interest in gardening to their mothers or grandmothers, even if it didn't interest them at the time, whereas my interest has very definitely come from my father and his father - my mother would have preferred not to have a garden at all.
This is a book that will stay on my shelves, to be pulled out whenever life feels too rushed, and the days too dark to remind me that spring always comes round eventually and the scents and colours will be waiting for me when the sun comes out.
The book is divided into a number of sections; The Garden Remembered, The Collective Garden, The Language of the Garden, The Sustainable Garden. All of them exude a relaxing atmosphere, you can almost imagine yourself in Nigel Slater's back garden, surrounded by herbs, in the south of France, or in a small sanctuary. Written, or at least compiled during Covid, the essays reveal just how important outdoor space and plants and trees are to our wellbeing.
Interestingly many of the writers trace their interest in gardening to their mothers or grandmothers, even if it didn't interest them at the time, whereas my interest has very definitely come from my father and his father - my mother would have preferred not to have a garden at all.
This is a book that will stay on my shelves, to be pulled out whenever life feels too rushed, and the days too dark to remind me that spring always comes round eventually and the scents and colours will be waiting for me when the sun comes out.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews