Blooms & Dreams: Cultivating Wellness, Generosity & a Connection to the Land

by Misha Gillingham

Luxury travel writer and influencer Misha Gillingham left the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles for a quaint island in the Pacific Northwest so she could get back in touch with what matters most. With the help of stunning photography, she shows how you, too, can cultivate a life of wellness, generosity, and connection to the land.

Misha Gillingham is a luxury travel writer turned farm girl whose story has won over the hearts of fans worldwide. In Blooms & Dreams, Misha shares not only what brought her to Evergreen Acres, a farm on Bainbridge Island in the Pacific Northwest, but also all of the wisdom she has gleaned over the years as she and her family put down roots.

While leading readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the farm—from her ever-evolving flower garden to the menagerie of animals who keep everyone in good spirits—Misha reflects on her own transformation and shares how joy can be found by contributing to your local community and fostering a deep connection to the land itself.

Blooms & Dreams will inspire readers from all walks of life to consider building a life centered around wellness, giving, and a connection to the land, be it a small patio garden or an entire farm.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

Published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blooms and Dreams is first of all a love letter celebrating all that has been created out of almost 10 acres of land on Bainbridge Island,WA. The pages are jam packed in wild wondrous floral/vegetable bounty. The text is like a note from your buddy sharing the news of the animals,meadows, and several potting spaces that comprise Evergreen Acres. Truly an eye candy delight. However, the beauty belies the unceasing labor and drudge work. I am heartened to know there are people who embrace such commitment to the land. And am happy to learn all the overflow of the garden,produce and flowers, are sent to bring joy in food banks.How cool is that?

[Heidi Ostergaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is BEAUTIFUL and inspiring. I just wish it dove just a smidge deeper. I want to know more about the farm and the struggles to create such an inspiring space that helps others. I would like a follow up book or something.

[Marianne Mersereau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the beautiful photos in this book!

[Jen Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book- 5 stars on the photography. 3 stars for actual content. Very repetitive and lacks useful gardening information. I would have appreciated a few tips on managing disease, pests, soil ph, companion planting, and organic weed control- contributing this would have made a well rounded gardening book. I love how passionate Misha is about growing plants and donating them to her local food bank.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 star images 2 star content.
She has an obvious talent for garden design and has created such an incredible space but unfortunately unless you are incredibly wealthy this book reads more as a brag list. There is very little depth and basically no instruction on how to grow or design a space.

So go to it with Pinterest expectations. Read it to be wowed by beauty but don't expect to learn a whole lot.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty pictures, but the “dream” garden here is so far away from what most people could actually do that it’s hard to take. The author acknowledges her privilege, and then that privilege drips from every page. This is basically a long magazine showcase.

[Michele Ktistou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this book would be more about flowers. It was basically highlighting her specific farm and all its parts.

[Kobi Steedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really beautiful coffee table book of inspiration. Read cover to cover in under an hour. Not much substance but lovely pictures.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Blooms & Dreams. What's fascinating is that Gillingham, a city girl from LA, knew nothing about gardening or farming when her family relocated to Washington and purchased Evergreen Acres Farm. The previous owners were gardeners, so she inherited: "three verdant pastures, expansive lawns, a pond, a sunny garden, a tennis court, and handful of green-tin-roof buildings. Forests lined the perimeter and lush Pacific Northwest landscaping blanketed the grounds" (8).

"Even though I had no prior gardening experience, and we hadn't planted this food ourselves, I was hopeful of what I might be able to do on my own" (11). What she did was amazing.

Three things stood out about the book: short to the point chapters, little writing, and amazing, breathtaking, inspirational pictures.

This book is inspiring and motivating. Each chapter compelled me to go in the backyard and plant, clean and organize. I want my space to look inviting and exciting like hers. I love a book that makes me feel as alive and motivated as this book did. I would love to find a farm like hers. I can do it.

The amazing pictures carried this book. They tell a stronger, more compelling story than words. They speak to the reader. They make the reader smile, laugh, sympathize, empathize. They help us not only see but feel and experience the beauty of the garden. They inspire and motivate the reader.

Gillingham is not asking us to be like her or to have a garden as prolific and extensive as hers. What she is convincing us to do is start. Find our passion and seek our purpose in life.

My only critique of the book is the author's excessive and annoying use of clichés and simplistic terms. "It was going to be a labor of love" (11); "I wanted a magical wonderland" (15); "Cosmos and zinnias sprung out of every nook and cranny" (16). However, they do not take away from the beauty and the inspiration that radiates from each page of this book.

The message is clear: we do not have to be like Gillngham. All we need are ideas, motivation, and enough grit and determination to make our dreams a reality like she did.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the beautiful pictures throughout and I loved the authors giving, knowledgeable, and helpful words on kindness, beauty, animals, and most importantly gardening. She inspired me to make a vision board of what I want my backyard oasis to look like. She also inspired me to look into plants: how to grow, companion planting, color schemes.

This year my husband is making me some raised garden beds. Blooms and Dreams have inspired my own dreams of how I want my raised beds to look. I love her design ethic. I have always wanted a pergola garden with climbing vines on it, with solar lights, and a beer barrel (empty) table. I’d also love to have veggie and flowers throughout. And, I really want a rainbow garden in my front/side yards. I love that she not only inspired me to grow what I have been dreaming about, but also how to attain it. She does not say- do this all at once! Do it slowly and enjoy the process.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Kimmy Stagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have followed Misha on Instagram for more than a year now (@farmluxe) and have been so inspired by the glimpses of beauty she and her family have cultivated at Evergreen Acres. So when I learned she was coming out with a book, I knew it would be at the top of my wishlist! The photography is gorgeous and I love getting a fuller view of the farm and what they have done there over the past few years. While it’s not a how-to book nor an in-depth memoir of personal stories on the farm like I would’ve expected, there is still plenty to learn from and be inspired by in what Misha shares about what led them to this journey and their design choices along the way. As my family and I dream about cultivating our own homestead, there are so many things in this book that I find myself returning to for both the dreamy inspiration and the practical beginning steps of what to research, plan, and prepare for. She mentions possibly writing another book in the future with more detailed how-tos, and if she does I’ll be first in line to buy it!

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely a pretty book but I'm unsure what the author was trying to do except showcase her very amazing farmstead. The text is of her experience and, strangely, I don't read much about outside landscaping help (builders, gardeners, contractors, laborers). There are some names listed in the Acknowledgements and she mentions that her husband built some tables... So, I'm a bit suspicious, and saddened, that there wasn't credit given there. It takes considerable help for something of that size! There is no mention of costs here. The budget for tulips alone must be staggering. This is not a DIY-aspirational book of any sort. But "cultivating" in the subtitle of the book implies, to me, that she's going to tell us how and there's nothing of the sort here. But it is pretty.

[Vicky Zeamer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a great book for someone who has never heard of gardening, and would love to learn… at the highest level… what a garden is like. The pictures are beautiful, but feel a bit too staged in a way that makes it feel uncomfortable by the end (I’m thinking of the staged antique pick up truck overflowing with flowers on the page discussing why it’s a nice thing to donate flowers. There’s almost no detail about how to grow things, nuances of each plant, etc. it’s so surface level. This is a pictures only book.

[Hope Helms · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a delightful book! Easy to read and inspiring. I loved the emphasis on sharing the abundance of the garden with the community and also how gardening impacted her outlook on life. Also inspired me to plant some more vibrant blooms!

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photos were absolutely beautiful and I got so many ideas for my own personal garden. However, I would have loved to see more in depth info on certain topics as well as some of Misha's personal recipes for meals with fresh veggies/flowers.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the pictures. The yearly overview by month was helpful. Some of the things are different in my zone but it's helpful to read what she does each month in regards to ordering, etc. I also loved her emphasis on using the outdoors to entertain, slow down, enjoy, and share.

[Emily Kleykamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is like talking with a friend while they give you a tour of their garden. The photos are absolutely stunning.

[Jen Bracken-Hull]

Gorgeous pictures. Vacuous content, beginning immediately with “imagine your dream life.”

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gorgeous pictures, poorly titled. Lovely as a coffee table book. Lessons on how to cultivate wellness or a connection to the land? No.

[Donna Huber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I would consider a coffee table book as it is largely made up of pictures. If you like farm or garden tours or looking for some inspiration for your own garden, then you should check out this book. It is definitely more about the aesthetics than the sustainable and environmental aspects (she does say she is farming organically but no mention of using heirloom and native plants). Read my full review at Girl Who Reads.