If you like stories about gardening, food, family gatherings and a dysfunctional mother daughter relationship, this memoir has it all. As is the way with all opposites, Tara Austen Weaver and her feisty mother have never really taken the time to get to know each other. Having just bought a big old timber house, with half an acre of overgrown garden in Seattle, Tara hopes to finally make a home for herself, a home that family and friends will fill. Restoring the garden back to its full production of fruit trees and vegetables starts a journey for both these women. Family gatherings, a sense of community and being able to please her mother are things Tara has craved all her life. I liked the way she refers to her mother as a hummingbird - never at rest, always working! Now, working together, it's the garden and its demanding control over them that starts to work some magic. I'm going to miss my daily fix of reading this excellent memoir. ( )

A lyrically written memoir about how Tara Austen Weaver grew a garden and in the process came to peace with herself, her family and the tough childhood that left her mother distant and estranged from her daughter. Throughout her adult years, Tara has an on and off again relationship with her mother and brother and they do not see each other often. In her 70's her mother decides to move the same city as her children and buys a home and garden which Tara attends to. In the long journey of becoming a master gardener Tara's mother, and in some ways, her brother, come to count on each other, respect each other and just accept that while their relationships might always be fraught and somewhat difficult that this is OK. The gap between them unexpectedly narrows as they spend time nurturing the common space, the home and garden, between them and make it beautiful and sustaining.

As a city dweller with little interest in gardening I found myself happily immersed in the lengthy and gorgeous descriptions of the fruits and vegetables that grew and the complicated and rewarding work it took to make this happen. My favorite part of the book was to watch Tara create a strong and loving "family" of friends and neighbors. It seemed to me that this gave her the sustenance to wade through her feelings of hurt and isolation from her own family of origin and create the close, authentic relationships that she was longing for. I think it also allowed her to accept that her mother and brother might always be more remote than she wants but that was not because she was flawed or unlovable and that there are many places to go for love. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. ( )

I loved this story of a single woman searching to build a warm and nourishing family structure through gardening. When her mother buys a house in Seattle with a huge yard, Tara joins her in restoring the yards into vegetable gardens, orchards, fruit vines, and meadows. I don't usually use cover blurbs, but this one is so perfectly descriptive: " For everyone who has ever planted something that they wished would survive - or tried to mend something that seemed forever broken -- [Orchard House is a tale of healing and growth, set in a most unlikely place."

I love the promise of a garden, like Tara I rarely think ahead to the pounding work of the summer garden, the urgent cry of fresh produce needing attention, the relentlessness of the weeds. Like Tara I am seduced by the promise of beauty and sustainability, the taste of the fresh tomato, and joy of a child eating strawberries. This book resonated with me because I could see myself getting sucked in to this huge, time-consuming project. I can see myself falling for the magic.

Recommend this book to anyone who loves the garden, is interested in the food culture of Seattle, or who would like to heal a family. ( )

The author’s family wasn’t close- in fact, they’d decided that they worked better living in different cities. But now Weaver’s Seattle based brother has two children and another on the way, and her 70-ish mother decides she needs to move to that city. When they see a very unpromising property- a rundown old house with a huge, overgrown lot with fruit trees and berry bushes- they can’t get it out of their heads. The mother buys the house because of the food producing prospect; Weaver is enthused because her happiest childhood memories revolved around a garden. Her brother doesn’t care.

Weaver’s mother has had a hard life; never loved or wanted as a child she then finds herself abandoned by her husband with one small child and another on the way. As the sole support of her small family, she tried to always have food growing, so that no matter what, the children wouldn’t starve. Now, despite them all living in relative prosperity, she feels compelled to continue with this habit. Weaver sees the garden as an opportunity not just to indulge her love of gardening, but to bring her family closer.

The family story runs parallel with the gardening one; tasks in the garden bringing back memories and allowing for new bonds to be built. One of the problems is that Weaver is the only one who cares about creating family closeness; the mother is gone all summer, leaving the garden work to the author, while the brother and his wife are happy to allow the kids to spend time with ‘Aunt Tea-Tea’ they themselves show absolutely no interest in the garden. They have their own lives. Not only is Weaver battling the wild, overgrown garden and its problems, but her own hang-ups and family apathy.

The book has a slow start, and it jumps around in space and time, so you have to really pay attention. There are some repetitive areas. Two things remain constantly in sight- Weaver’s determination to both grow emotionally herself and to repair her family, especially her mother’s belief that she (her mother) is not worth loving. This is not high drama but the give and take of daily life, and I could certainly identify with some of what they all went through. Of course there were many moments that had the gardener in me nodding my head sympathetically and going “Oh, yeah, been there, done that!” And I’m definitely getting some Shuksan strawberry plants next year. ( )

An outstanding book! The author, raised by her somewhat emotionally distant mother, is searching for a more satisfying and meaningful familial relationship. The two come together through the purchase and tending of a large Seattle garden. Kudos to Ms. Weaver for her ability to lay bare her soul and describe her emotions so well! And to be so brave to put it all out there for everyone to see! So many times in the book I found myself relating to her journey, thinking, "Exactly! Why couldn't I have figured that out on my own?" She truly has a gift for introspection and the descriptive language to express it. Lest you think the book is only a journey into her soul, there is also an abundance of gardening information. Having moved to Seattle myself recently, I plan to put it to good use. Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I rarely rate a book as a "must read". No such problem here. I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone. You will learn so much about yourself. Things that, deep down, you probably sensed, but could never quite put into words. Guaranteed! ( )