This isn't so much a how-to on gardening as a how-to on thinking about
gardening. It follows the course of the natural year, from spring through
winter, as [Pollan], an editor at Harper's , chronicles his growth as
a gardener in Connecticut's rocky Housatonic Valley. Starting out as
a "child of Thoreau," [Pollan] soon realized that society's concept of
culture as the enemy of nature would get him a bumper crop of weeds and
well-fed woodchucks but no vegetables to eat. Far more serviceable
materially and philosophically, he now finds, is the metaphor of a garden,
where nature and culture form a harmonious whole. [Pollan] finds ample
time for musing on how his own tasks fit in with the overall scheme of
existence; thus, there are chapters titled "Compost and Its Moral
Imperatives" and "The Idea of a Garden." Although serious in import,
the writing is never ponderous; [Pollan]'s wit flashes throughout, and
particularly in anecdotes about his youth: one memorable incident has
his father mowing his initials in the front yard after being reproached
by a suburban neighbor about his overgrown lawn.

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