This Allotment: Stories of Growing, Eating and Nurturing

 

This Allotment: Stories of Growing, Eating and Nurturing is a collection of 13 essays by writers on gardening, healing, and nature edited by Sarah Rigby. Due out 6th June from Elliott & Thompson, it's 187 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a collection of ruminations on gardening, by gardeners (who are also gifted writers). There's a deeply philosophical and meditative aspect to gardening, and these writers ruminate well and deeply on success, failure, growth, grief & loss, and what it all means in the larger picture.

This is not a book of gardening tips, there are no plans, no lists, and no direct gardening advice.  What the book has in abundance is humanity and humility and some humour and a lot of stories of persevering in the face of adversity. There's camaraderie as well, and some successes.

Four and a half stars. This is a book for reading in a thoughtful frame of mind. It would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, allotment/gardening group library, home use, or gift giving.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.