Rhapsody in Green: A Writer, an Obsession, a Laughably Small Excuse for a Vegetable Garden: A Novelist, an Obsession, a Laughably Small Excuse for a Vegetable Garden

As a keen gardener myself, I adored this book!! I found myself on way too many occasions recognising my own irrational behaviours when it comes to the world of gardening and how a simple hobby transforms you into a raving maniac at times!This is a real book for real gardeners! It understands the struggles and realities of gardening with restrictions of plot size, but never in your ambitions of just what you 'think' you can grow! And you really get the passion that the author feels for the subject as it takes you through so many topics - gardening catalogues, seed buying addiction, the hatred towards garden pests, the thrill of germination, gardening clothes - just to name a few! I think it's one of those books I'll be going back to over the years to feel that I'm not alone in my thoughts about gardening! How it can drive you to despair one minute, and then bring you so much joy the next!Charlotte is a gardener who prefers to grow things to eat so it's also fun to hear her thoughts on how she tries to plan ways of expanding her garden menu, and it's also written with humour! It takes you through a year so points out the highs and lows of each season, the dreams and realities that each month brings and the never ending list of things to do!And it was also nice to know that I'm not the only gardening who thinks certain ways about other gardens! As the author writes ' despite the chaos of my own garden, i feel entirely justified criticising everyone elses'!!! Yes to this!!!So if you're a gardener, or you know a gardener, then I'd highly recommend this book as you or they will 'get it'!! The obsession, the erratic behaviour caring for your plants creates, the joy of compost and the art of plant watering!! It's all there and I loved every page!

If you adore plants but barely have space for more than a dozen plants, this is an inspirational account of one woman and a very small garden. She writes so well that you are at her side in her garden treasuring her little bit of Eden.

This is one of those books which you may not wish to read alone - purely as there are so many snippets you will want to read aloud to share with whoever is around you. My husband has patiently let me to do so numerous times during the reading of this book. This is not a book on how to garden - more a memoir by stealth - but nevertheless you will learn a great deal about gardening from reading it. I certainly did and I've been a keen, if haphazard, gardener for decades. It is opinionated, self-deprecating, but also very informative as Mendelson is excellent on what she chooses to grow and why. I found it vastly entertaining.

This book is brilliant, everyone is going to get one for Christmas regardless as if they have the slightest interest in gardening! Charlotte Mendelson writes with such humour and wit and this book had me sniggering at every page. I live in a flat and only have a window box but she captures the longing and passion that every fustrated wannabe gardener has every time they set foot near a 'proper' garden or indeed a garden centre. This book has appeal for everyone due to the humour, tenderness and skill of the writer.

this was a gift

This is one of the most inspiring and beautiful books I’ve read. There’s so much to take from it in terms of advice, ideas and delight. A must for all gardeners and plant lovers.

What a wonderful pithy prose style Charlotte Mendelson has! I loved this book and so have the (many) people I've given it to .... her writing is stylish and her thinking so original....very very enjoyable.

Indulgent and too much about you.