Heather C. Flores

The premise of this book was interesting: gardening with a goal of improving the world often leads to a desire to improve the world more widely, so let's have a book about both gardening and community organization.

Sadly, the book tried to do too much and so ended up doing nothing particularly well. The first half of the book is about gardening. The vast majority of things in that section are covered in more detail (but not much more space) in books like Gaia's Garden. The second half of the book, on community organization, was not well connected to the first half and equally broad but shallow. That said, each section had one chapter I really enjoyed (seed saving in the first half, and integrating children into gardening and community development in the second half), but even those were fairly shallow -- they are just topics I have had less exposure to.

I should point out that this book leans pretty far toward the radically progressive, and if you disagree with the politics of the author, the book will be frustrating (Flores said as much near the beginning). I am progressive on many issues, but I still found myself put off by the author's "my way is obviously the right way" tone at times. At times, Flores tends to be somewhat sloppy with her use of terminology.

The best part of this book is the resources section. Because the book covers so many topics, the resources and references in the back are rich sources of pointers. The book may not be worth reading, but if you're interested in any of the many topics it covers, flipping through the back could be worth your time.

P.S. The book is called Food Not Lawns after the organization of the same name. Neither the book nor the organization advocate that food is the only thing worth growing. Rather, they claim that it is under emphasized. But "food in addition to lawns, but more food than we have now" is not a very catchy name. =)… (más)

I mostly skimmed this book since I've seen much of the information before in various places, but I do think that Flores does a good job of drawing together disparate threads and putting them into a concise package. She tells the story of her own evolution, covers the nuts and bolts of gardening, and relates the principles of ecological design (permaculture). But this is no mere gardening book; Flores would like to see our cities and neighborhoods act more like functional, engaging communities. Later chapters offer plenty of suggestions along these lines.… (más)

I think whether you like this book depends a lot on what you are looking for going in. The author is a community activist whose central concern is convincing people to live more communally and sustainably. Its not a book about how to grow food in your neighborhood so much as it is a book about why you should. Which is fine, and good, and not what I was looking for. There are some useful tips here and there but there are also a lot of passages that go something like for example; "composting can be a great way to improve soil fertility. There are many good books on composting or you can pick up a pamphlet from the extension service or talk to other gardeners in your area." She would mention some technique or plant or idea and then just as my interest was starting to rise, she'd advise me to go elsewhere to find out about it, and move on to another subject. After awhile I just got irritated and put the book down. Its not a bad book, its just not what I wanted or thought I was getting when I read the title and the blurb.… (más)