A Woman’s Garden: Grow Beautiful Plants and Make Useful Things – Plants and Projects for Home, Health, Beauty, Healing, and More
Thanks to the power of Instagram, I’ve met Tanya virtually and like her posts and ethos, as she helps to educate people along the way and show what joy there is in ‘having a go’. It’s no surprise that she knows our ambassador on the Isle of Man Jane Prescott (@themanxherbalist), as they both live there. Jane’s gardening is based on a herbalist’s perspective of course, but she is also a Landscape Architect experienced in garden design.
The beautiful photography brings this book alive and the first thing I read was: “For those who have passed down their herblore, and for those who keep the knowledge alive”, which had me hooked.
Tanya shares her knowledge and the gardens of many others, some are not in the UK, such as Ashlie in North Carolina, who has a passion for growing food and makes her own skincare and household cleaning materials. Also, Melissa in Canada, who has many crafty garden ideas, such as growing plants in an old handbag.
The book includes garden projects and many crafts with recipes for the kitchen, personal care and home, with edible flowers, infused oils, dye plants and many more ways of working with plants. The only difficulty for me when reading this book was
that often plants are not given botanical names or capital letters, but that will not distract many readers. There’s
stunning photography throughout, like on Tanya’s Instagram, with plenty to inform and entertain – this is a book for amateur and professionals, with the focus very much on the home and garden.
The Americans call this Homesteading, not an apothecary garden for the professional Herbalist, but plenty to inspire for a healthy more self-sufficient lifestyle.