The Expectant Gardener

In a horticultural journey that spans a decade, culminating with the birth of her son Leo, Simone Martel describes in colorful, richly textured detail her own growth as an organic gardener. Tracing her love of gardens back to her childhood, Martel reveals how she learned to create one without the use of chemicals, or the latest fashionable tool. Through her journal-like style, she invites us into her garden in the Berkeley flatlands, on her weed-pulling or snail-hunting forays or when she creates a pond or "womb chamber". Most of all, she shares with us how growing things can enrich our lives, connecting us to the larger natural world of which any garden, any gardener, and all of life is a part.