The Assignment:
Book Review of Maverick Gardeners: Dr. Dirt and Other Determined Independent Gardeners by Felder Rushing
FOR the University Press of Mississippi
Note: this assignment was unpaid
While I enjoy writing as much as gardening, another interest is constantly vying for my time: reading. So, when asked to write book reviews on ecological literature of any kind, the answer is usually an easy yes.
Maverick Gardeners by Felder Rushing appealed to one of my core philosophies, the practice (imperfect as it often is) of slow living. In this book, Rushing applies those concepts to the act of tending a garden. Or as he called it, slow gardening. I was all ears.
Scan an excerpt of my book review below, and follow the embedded article to read the full piece. It was published in the Clarion Ledger and the Hattiesburg American newspapers.
At last, Mississippi’s favorite offbeat horticulturist takes us behind the vine-wrapped gates of some of the funkiest private gardens in the South. Suffice it to say, this is not your mama’s garden guide.
With a profusion of interesting and unexpected themes planted densely together, it reads rather like a cottage garden grows: A memoir here, a tribute there. Some history. Some recipes. And plenty of good laughs in between—thanks to Rushing’s signature narrative style.