Gentle Gardening: A Low-Energy Guide for Uncooperative Bodies by Erin Alladin

I bought this book on a whim when someone on a chronic illness support board suggested it. I’ve been gardening for years, but both my physical ability to keep up and my time available have been flagging, leaving me with really horrible gardens.

This book supports bringing joy to having a garden, and having even a little slice of time to garden, instead of hitching your joy to the expectations of bounty.

It also offers a lot of suggestions for how to garden in ways that take some of the strain off. The author introduces many gardening methods, from square-foot gardening to “lasagna gardening” to straw bale gardening. Some of these I’ve tried and others I’ve heard of. She also suggests different tools and approaches to physical or neurological issues that might prevent us from gardening.

The book is short, illustrated, and well-researched, with a bibliography and a glossary.