Garden Variety: A Novel

Description

If you thought community gardening was nothing but pulling weeds and planting seeds think again. In this fresh and delightful debut, Christy Wilhelmi shows that there's more to gardening than merely keeping pests at bay ... Each time Lizzie steps through the gates of the Vista Mar Community Gardens, she knows she's left the chaos of the outside world behind. Here, the rows are even, tools are properly stored, and each season brings new life. But even the shiniest apple can hide a worm, and behind the leafy green facade there is hidden heartbreak, tomato hornworms, and inter-garden political powerplays. And to make things worse-a long forgotten loophole enacted by a nasty neighbor brings the outside world crashing in. The members are feuding, Lizzie's budding romance is wilting on the vine, and the very existence of Vista Mar is threatened. Can Lizzie and her fellow gardeners fight to save their urban oasis while they struggle to stay grounded in this chaotic city Garden Variety is as much about growing food and flowers as it is about life's growing pains, and how a community rallies and comes together to save their own.

Christy Wilhelmi empowers people to grow their own food, to be more self-reliant, and to reduce pollution and waste, one garden at a time. Christy is founder of Gardenerd, the ultimate resource for garden nerds, where she publishes newsletters, her popular blog, and top-ranked podcasts. She also specializes in small-space, organic vegetable garden design and consulting. She holds regular organic gardening classes in California, and has co-taught organic gardening at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. Her writing has appeared in many gardening and food blogs and magazines. She is also the author of three nonfiction gardening books: Gardening for Geeks, 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success: A Decade of Tricks, Tools, Recipes, and Resources from Gardenerd.com, and Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden.

"You don't have to be an avid gardener to fall in love with Garden Variety and the characters from Vista Mar... Every time I opened it, Christy Wilhelmi made me feel like I was coming back to a place of comfort, compassion, and sympathy with a good smattering of dry humor and no-nonsense honesty." - Milla Jovovich