This text is a treasure-trove of tips, how-tos and trade secrets, organized by the seasons, that presents a profusion of ways to celebrate the bounty of the earth all year round. Simple Pleasures of the Garden is a follow-up to the very popular Simple Pleasures ; Susannah Seton was inspired to write it because so many of the suggestions, stories, and recipes from the earlier book were about gardens and gardening. Organized by season, each section contains subheadings under which information is organized: "In the Garden," "With Family and Friends," "Into the Kitchen," "Beautifying Your Home," and "Nourishing Body and Soul." Seton's approach is thorough. She offers tips and stories on herb gardening, information on growing flowers for aroma or to attract butterflies, techniques for toxic-free gardening and composting, and instructions for making simple baskets and wreaths, floral-scented oils and lotions, and potpourri. Her advice doesn't neglect the palate, either: you'll find delightful, simple recipes for cooked vegetables, salads, blackberry jam, rhubarb-strawberry crisp, and many more. It is a delight to browse through Simple Pleasures of the Garden and fantasize, but the danger is that you will want to jump into your own gardening projects. Not to worry, though, beginning gardeners and those with almost no space will find plenty of guidance, including many indoor gardening projects. Just browsing through this book will probably lower your blood pressure. Seton has collected 60 brief stories, arranged seasonally, on the pleasures of gardening. The narratives concern seeds, wildflowers, rose petals, butterflies, birds, fireflies, the language of flowers, pressed flowers, stones--and even weeds, worms, and muck. A selection of recipes is included for rose wine, herbal teas, soups, salads, relish, muffins, jams, buns, and natural headache remedies. Directions for making such items as paper cup lights, onion and garlic braids, a potted candle, napkin rings, a dried flower swag, baskets, wreaths, and potpourri are presented. George Cohen Simple Pleasures of the Garden Stories, Recipes & Crafts from the Abundant Earth By Susannah Seton Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC Copyright © 1998 Conari Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57324-104-5 Contents Simple Pleasures of the GardenEarthly DelightsSpringIn the GardenWith Family and FriendsInto the KitchenBeautifying Your HomeNourishing Body and SoulSummerIn the GardenWith Family and FriendsInto the KitchenBeautifying Your HomeNourishing Body and SoulFallIn the GardenWith Family and FriendsInto the KitchenBeautifying Your HomeNourishing Body and SoulWinterIn the GardenWith Family and FriendsInto the KitchenBeautifying Your HomeNourishing Body and SoulAcknowledgmentsIndexResource Guide CHAPTER 1 Spring Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. —Virgil A. Kraft In the Garden In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings,Stands the lilac-bush tall frowing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,With many a pointed blossom ringing delicate, with the perfume strong I love, With everyleaf a miracle ... —Walt Whitman About to Blossom One of my favorite times in my flower garden is pre-bloom time. The blush on the plantabout to bloom starts to glow. It resembles a young girl of that certain age—twelve?thirteen?—just starting to fill out, grow up, straining to show her hidden promise. Then, ashine and dominance as it pushes everything out of the way to say, "Watch out world,here I come!" Tomorrow or the next day, I know it will be soon. Its arms reach out to thewarm sun and soft spring rains. Everything surrounding it stays down and low, letting thisone have its turn in the sun. I await anxiously for the peak to arrive. Tomorrow? One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. —W. E. Johns Signs of Spring Nature signals the return of spring to each of us in a different way. For some, it is theblooming of a redbud or forsythia; for others, it is the determined daffodil, who is thetrumpeter of spring, in bold pre-Easter yellow. For me, it is the dogwood tree, budding upeverywhere with pink-infused blossoms of thickest cream. I love that the dogwood is sucha democrat, growing anywhere and everywhere, in places where no other such beautydare show herself. A man ought to carry himself in the world as an orange tree would if it could walk up anddown in the garden, swinging perfume from every little censer it holds up in the air. —Henry Ward Beecher Wildflower Meadow I don't know about you, but I believe a lawn is vastly overrated. It takes a tremendousamount of water, too much labor, and causes vast quantities of chemicals to be dumpedinto our water supply. So I decided to dig mine up and plant a wildflower meadow instead.It took some work to get going, but within four weeks I had my first bloom. It was aglorious sight for six months and unlike a lawn, virtually main