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lkrivitz's review
5.0
A great memoir about gardening, local food, and being a frugal spirit. I loved her voice and writing.
kegila's review
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Cancer and Death
amibunk's review
3.0
The beginning chapters of "This Organic Life" are a combination of a memoir, a gardening how-to reference, and a cookbook. All of these elements were well written in a random, delightful, meandering manner that made the book exciting and interesting to read. I thought to myself, "What fun it is to read how this woman learned to garden organically and how she moved a million plants and trees to a new house that she and her husband were remodeling. And that recipe looks delicious. I must try it. Oooooh, what a nice tip about storing sweet potatoes, I definitely need to remember this advice." (Disclaimer: this isn't the exact thought process that occurred in my head, but you get the general gist of my thinking.)
Then suddenly, half-way through the book, everything dissolved into a polite lecturing tirade concerning the environment and petroleum usage; without much mention of my two favorite characters in the book (the husband sadly passed away and the new house is literarily abandoned). I realize that environmental concerns and politics are the driving force behind why this author chooses to garden and provide her own vegetables. Of course, I expect her arguments and urgings to be in the book. Yet, everything became unbalanced and lopsided. Instead of delighting in the book, I finished it out of obligation and a hope that things would return to the way it was in the beginning. Sadly it didn't.
Then suddenly, half-way through the book, everything dissolved into a polite lecturing tirade concerning the environment and petroleum usage; without much mention of my two favorite characters in the book (the husband sadly passed away and the new house is literarily abandoned). I realize that environmental concerns and politics are the driving force behind why this author chooses to garden and provide her own vegetables. Of course, I expect her arguments and urgings to be in the book. Yet, everything became unbalanced and lopsided. Instead of delighting in the book, I finished it out of obligation and a hope that things would return to the way it was in the beginning. Sadly it didn't.
jenniferdenslow's review
3.0
The dust jacket copy promises that Gussow presents "a version of The Good Life that is with the grasp of all of us." This is not true. Gussow's efforts to make sure she and her husband eat only the vegetables that they grow and that there is a large variety of said vegetables takes an amount of work that most of would not or could not commit to given our circumstances and nature.
What is true is that Gussow's gardens are amazing, prolific, and surprisingly varied, as are her efforts to preserve the fruits and vegetables she manages to produce. Expanding her diet in winter means experimenting with different growing and storage methods, some of which fly in the face of common sense but work out in the end.
I am inherently too lazy to be a gardener, yet I admire the effort Gussow takes to build a better diet for her and her family, friends, and community. Her memoir of her garden is one that leads naturally to contemplating our own diet and what impact it has on our health and our world.
What is true is that Gussow's gardens are amazing, prolific, and surprisingly varied, as are her efforts to preserve the fruits and vegetables she manages to produce. Expanding her diet in winter means experimenting with different growing and storage methods, some of which fly in the face of common sense but work out in the end.
I am inherently too lazy to be a gardener, yet I admire the effort Gussow takes to build a better diet for her and her family, friends, and community. Her memoir of her garden is one that leads naturally to contemplating our own diet and what impact it has on our health and our world.
imnatsimple's review
4.0
Seriously entertaining and thought provoking. Will makes some people think about their food and others will just roll their eyes.
babs_jellymuck's review
4.0
Quite preachy and elitist but overall I enjoyed reading it. Well, with the exception of the opossum chapter.
I was interested in trying her recipes and put together this PDF with most of them written out to the best of my ability, in case you're also interested:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bvzz85zyp5g12y/Recipes%20From%20This%20Organic%20Life.pdf?dl=0
**Note that the recipes that I didn't think were easy to convert vegetarian were left out (which was only like 2 of them)
I was interested in trying her recipes and put together this PDF with most of them written out to the best of my ability, in case you're also interested:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bvzz85zyp5g12y/Recipes%20From%20This%20Organic%20Life.pdf?dl=0
**Note that the recipes that I didn't think were easy to convert vegetarian were left out (which was only like 2 of them)
kimschmidt's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book, at times I wanted to smack her but then I had to remind myself she is a much older gardener. Loved the recipe additions, could have done without on the back-and-forth of time periods. Not really sure what that had to do with anything, jumping from a long time ago to the current and back again within the same paragraph. Though I didn't technically learn anything new, it was great to get a perspective of someone who has been working on eating the majority of what you grow.
kickpleat's review
4.0
Although I liked this book from the beginning, it was slow going...especially through the slog that was about buying their home, tearing it down and then rebuilding it. It wasn't until halfway through the book that I felt that this is an awesome read. I learned a lot about gardening and how much work it is, but how worthwhile it can be. And while this book is a personal take on having a garden, the author is political – she has a doctorate in Nutrition and has been advocating eating locally years before it became a popular notion. Even though I feel that I'm pretty hip to the jive, I still felt I learned something about how to preserve vegetables for the winter, about the irresponsible and non-sustainable agricultural culture of large growers and hey, she even includes recipes!