It's finally summer once again - the season of strawberries, arugula, marigolds, and good summer reads. Here are a few books to crack open on a pleasant, warm afternoon under the shade of the willow tree at 6/15...
For the junior
gardener: The Secret
Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
One of my
childhood favorites, The Secret Garden is the tale of a stubborn British girl
named Mary who is uprooted from her home in India and sent to live in an isolated
house in England with an uncle she never met. Bored and restless, Mary’s
explorations of the property lead her to a mysterious locked garden. With the
help of some servants and new friends, she discovers the great transforming
power of the beauty that grows within the garden walls.
For the person
who gardens for the quiet and solitude: The Poems of
Hafez (by Hafez!)
Hafez-e Shirãzi was a
Persian poet with a profound appreciation for the beauty of the world around
him, and an eloquent way of describing it. All his poems feel like he wrote
them while drinking a glass of wine and gazing out into his bountiful garden.
Called “the poet for poets” by Emerson himself, Hafez is spiritual and wise.
After reading a few of his poems in the garden, you will feel inspired to lead
a better life.
For the person
who gardens for the community: A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn by Betty Smith
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn provides a glimpse into what our home
looked like 100 years ago, while also making you feel all the excitement,
sorrow, disappointment, and passion of the characters in the story. The book
follows the daily life of Francie, a young girl growing up in Williamsburg
during the early 1900s. The same streets that are filled with bodegas and cars
today are described as the places where Francie traded metal for pennies at the
junkyard and visited a neighborhood boy when he was grooming his horse. She
spends her summer days sitting on the fire escape reading and peeking through
the leaves of the one tree that grows in their yard: “the only tree that grew
out of cement.”
For the gardener
who loves biology (and drinking): The Drunken Botanist
by Amy Stewart
Biology,
history, culture, and booze – all of these things can be found in The Drunken Botanist. This book is jam
packed with information about the history of different liquors, the process of
fermentation and distillation, recipes for mixing your own drinks, and tips on
gardening the plants referenced throughout the book. It’s an easy, fun read
that will leave you with a new appreciate for alcohol and a sudden craving for
a gin and tonic.
