Muddy hands conceal much wisdom. Observing natural harmonies and the mysteries of the garden, we begin to understand how we impose our individual rule on the natural world, all about Darwin and genetic modification in plants, nature versus nurture, Schrodinger's toad and quantum biology, weeding and the theories about how change can happen, the harvest, the perfect tomato, art and beauty, miracle berries, minding your peas and cues, Methuselah trees, heaps of seeds, composting and the ethical shed, and the pragmatic gardener. The practical philosophy of getting muddy hands helps us explore ideas, consider the big questions and learn life lessons in your garden. Gardening is an innately thoughtful as well as practical pastime: planning ahead, imagining how plants will grow, deciding what will make a 'good' garden, wondering at the beauty of flowers and noticing how ecosystems work. This delightful and engaging collection of essays illustrate how many philosophical ideas arise naturally in gardeners' everyday work. Growers by their nature are in fact already philosophers: existentialists who try to live and work by their own rules in a garden; stoics who put up with slug damage again and again, and try to work in harmony with nature and practical quantum scientists who witness incredible processes going on in plant cells beneath the ground. Kate Collyns introduces intriguing concepts, propagated from science, evolution and aesthetics through to politics, economics and ethics. Broken into four sections, Soil, Growth, Harvest and Cycles, each section explores questions of philosophy through the lens of the garden. With gorgeous woodcut illustrations throughout a nice layout over two columns, a quality publication from Frances Lincoln. 144pp.
Additional product information
