Ruth Stour's book is so incredibly conversational that I feel that I've been invited over for tea and weeding. It's broken up in several different essays and fun to read cover to cover. Despite the fact that it's more of a novel than a how-to book, you'll want to run out to your garden and try out a few things after each page. Today, she's well into her 90's -- a testament to how beneficial gardening is both for the garden and the gardner! I've read this book numerous times, and enjoyed it every single time. I'm a garden writer myself (Allergy-Free Gardening) and I always appreciate good garden writing. For my money, no one did it any better than Ruth Stout. Her writing is useful, practical, easy to follow, sensible, fun, often funny, and is a joy to read. She was quite the gardener, and went about gardening in an intelligent and creative way, with her eyes wide open to things that worked, or those that didn't. Ruth Stout really ought to be known as the "Mother of Mulch," since she was such a strong advocate for this practice. This book would make a fine addition to anyone's personal gardening library, and would also make an excellent gift for a friend who loves gardening. If you grow vegetables and flowers and have never read this gem, treat yourself to a copy. Remarkably good! What a great book. I found this book in my mother's basement when we moved her