Garden Wisdom: Lessons Learned from 60 Years of Gardening
Want to know how to transplant tomatoes, hoe a row of rutabaga, or put up a peck of pickled peppers? There’s an Apps for that! Having spent a lifetime growing all manner of vegetables at various farms and homesteads across his native Wisconsin, Apps has accumulated a wealth of practical information based on personal experience that can benefit vegetable gardeners everywhere. Although it includes helpful chapters on planning, planting, and even preserving a hearty vegetable harvest, this is less of a traditional how-to gardening manual and more of a treasured garden memoir, as Apps fondly recalls halcyon days spent gardening beside self-taught grandparents and parents and extols the rewards of sharing this handed-down wisdom with his own children and grandchildren. Along with engaging tidbits of historical lore about everything from brussels sprouts to zucchini, Apps shares his wife Ruth’s recipes for delectable treats such as Rhubarb Cream Pie and Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake. As informative as it is entertaining, Apps’ heartfelt chronicle transforms the standard gardening guidebook into a deeply personal appreciation for nature’s bounty. --Carol Haggas