What’s it really like to work in a garden? The ‘Diary of a Modern Country Gardener’ gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse.
Some years ago I bumped into Tamsin on a press trip. What, I wondered, was she up to now that the magazine she’d edited – The English Garden – had moved its office from Cheltenham to London. I confess to being a little envious when told she was working in her family’s garden, Stockton Bury in Herefordshire. For much of my working life I’ve been desk-bound with only occasional forays into gardens. The idea of spending every day in one seemed bliss.
And it seems it is. Despite the physicality of the job – “This garden is my free gym” – and the at times unrelenting misery of winter gardening – “When I am unable to identify if the water rolling down my cheeks are tears or icy rain, I retreat inside” – what leaps off every page of her book is Tamsin’s sheer joy for her work.
I was given a copy in return for a fair review.
Whether it’s spotting the first snowdrops on a cold November day, revelling in the scent of freesias in the greenhouse, or her excitement at finally being allowed a leaf mould frame by her uncle, she is obviously never happier than when she’s got earth-encrusted hands and is wearing a “sheepskin gilet and tights tucked into my knickers” – her top tip for keeping warm.
Written as an intermittent rather than daily diary, the book takes us on a year-long journey of life at Stockton Bury – both the garden and the family farm where there are new lambs, nerve-wracking tests for bovine TB and the annual gathering in of fallen branches for firewood.
In the garden, we follow Tamsin as she gets it ready for the first visitors in April, cuts her own lawn in bra and knickers, and wages what seems like an unending war against Rosebay Willow Herb.
All this is conveyed in the sort of prose that beautifully draws the scene and, at times, had me laughing: “It’s like being in the Garden of Eden with temptations all around. I haven’t yet spotted a naked Adam in the shrubbery, but I keep looking.”
Along the way, she offers advice. There’s the ‘Tool Kit’ that starts each month and has both the practical – October needs a bulb planter – and the tongue-in-cheek: May, the RHS Chelsea month, requires “Red nail polish to disguise muddy nails when you go out into society”.
There are also ‘Things to do’ sections and ‘must have’ plants for each month, and occasional projects, including how to grow flowers for cutting and how to store homegrown onions.
Yet, Diary of a Modern Country Gardener is more than just the garden across one year. Woven through the daily tasks are glimpses of life beyond its boundaries, from talks to gardening groups to the hedgerows that change with the seasons, and Tamsin’s childhood memories of Stockton Bury; she’s the fifth generation to work the land.
It gives the book a personal feel, as do the photos, which are not the over-edited glossy shots of many gardening books but the sort of snaps you would take of your own plot. Adding to the charm are Hannah Madden’s illustrations, which peep onto the pages.
Tamsin introduces the book by saying “Gardeners should share their knowledge and enthusiasm”. In this she has succeeded.
Diary of a Modern Country Gardener is published by Orphans Publishing RRP of £20. Buy it now for £14.23 on Amazon. (If you buy through this Amazon link, I get a small fee. The price you pay is not affected.)
Enjoyed this? You can read more of my garden and garden-related book reviews here.
You can read about my trip to Stockton Bury here.
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