- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Indiana University Press; illustrated edition edition (30 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0253215854
- ISBN-13: 978-0253215857
- Product Dimensions: 24 x 16.5 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,298,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This first collection of Henry Mitchell's garden columns was one of those instant classics, a book which quickly earned a permanent place on thousands of bedside tables. Though written for the Washington Post, these tales of the city garden travel well, and after reading a single page--any page--you'll realize why. Many gardeners quote Mitchell's line, "It is a great joy the day we discover that we can learn things without actually having to make the mistakes ourselves." He regales us with his mistakes, recording the frustration caused by stubbornly planting where his beloved dogs insisted on sleeping or by thoughtless activity ("I speared a superb lily bulb today"), hoping we will profit from his own gardening mishaps. We can and do, but we profit just as much by his company as his advice, which is so clearly the fruit of long and direct experience.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
.".. an idiosyncratic, down-to-earth journal of the travails and rewardsof gardening for one's own pleasure, not for status or competition. It's funny andreal; a classic for the gardener's library." -- Austin American Statesman
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First Sentence
One. As I write this, on June 29, it's about time for another summer storm to smash the garden to pieces, though it may hold off until the phlox, tomatoes, daylilies, and zinnias are in full sway. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
One. As I write this, on June 29, it's about time for another summer storm to smash the garden to pieces, though it may hold off until the phlox, tomatoes, daylilies, and zinnias are in full sway. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love Henry Mitchell & re-read on a regular basis all three of his books that I have. He is very funny in a dry & self-deprecating way but manages nonetheless to give the reader some great gardening tips. After a while you get a good idea of what his garden is like (he is very fond of waterlilies and likes Basset Hounds, except they lie down on the hyacinths) and what some of his major likes and dislikes are. I would recount a favourite passage, except I have so many that I can't choose.
If you are a gardener (or even a gardener's spouse who puts up with being read out loud to) Henry Mitchell is a delightful discovery, not to be missed.
So when I discovered that a good friend of mine was gardening in Switzerland I had to send him Essential Earthman. And he likes it too; how not? Sending from the UK was very easy, cheaper than sending from the US or Canada & it got there very fast.
If you are a gardener (or even a gardener's spouse who puts up with being read out loud to) Henry Mitchell is a delightful discovery, not to be missed.
So when I discovered that a good friend of mine was gardening in Switzerland I had to send him Essential Earthman. And he likes it too; how not? Sending from the UK was very easy, cheaper than sending from the US or Canada & it got there very fast.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
please reprint this book!
18 Jun 2000
Format:Paperback
I first read Henry Mitchell in the Washington Post when my husband was receiving cancer treatment at NIH in 1982, and when I realized that his columns were collected in The Essential Earthman I immediately bought a copy. I have subsequently owned (and loaned out and thus lost) two or three more copies. As each planting season arrives I remember how much I've missed reading Henry's wisdom, and I berate myself for having loaned out (and lost) those books. So for the sake of upcoming generations of gardeners (and the old hands among us), would someone please reprint this valuable book? It's a book to read in the depth of winter and the heat of summer, in a spacious country garden or a tiny city yard, for beginning gardeners and old timers with permanently-stained hands. There never has been anyone quite like Henry Mitchell on gardening, or on life, for that matter. Grouchy, opinionated, funny, informative, brutally honest--his words will never go out of style.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
One of the 3 best American garden writers
8 Jun 1997
Format:Paperback
As a gardener sufficiently serious about it to prefer catalogs without pictures, I commend Mr. Mitchell's essays to anyone -- seedling or mighty oak -- who loves to put their hands in dirt, and needs someone to lyrically explain why. My favorite essays include: dogs in the garden, why $ spent on garden plants are toted up differently than other money spent, and why, no matter how long you garden, you are never done until you are dead
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Worth a second try
24 April 2003
Format:Paperback
I bought this book a few years ago based on the reviews. When I got it I tore into it and was sorely disappointed. That's the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars.
Why even 4 stars you ask? Well, about a month ago, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and now I LOVE IT!
Henry Mitchell is dry - like the soil under an oak. But he's terribly warm and fuzzy once you get to know him. I write a newsletter for my local garden club and have found quote after quote that I want to use for future issues. They're not la-dee-dah quotes that speak vaguely about the lovely joys of gardening. BLAH! Rather, they're jewels that point fingers at snobby gardeners and kill-joys who scold children for picking crocuses.
This is not a "pretty picture" book. It's sort of a how-to in an essay form. But more than that, it's great writing by a wonderful author on a topic I am crazy for.
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