Second Nature

This isn't so much a how-to on gardening as a how-to on thinking about
gardening. It follows the course of the natural year, from spring
through winter, as [Pollan], an editor at Harper's , chronicles his
growth as a gardener in Connecticut's rocky Housatonic Valley. Starting
out as a "child of Thoreau," [Pollan] soon realized that society's
concept of culture as the enemy of nature would get him a bumper crop of
weeds and well-fed woodchucks but no vegetables to eat. Far more
serviceable materially and philosophically, he now finds, is the
metaphor of a garden, where nature and culture form a harmonious whole.
[Pollan] finds ample time for musing on how his own tasks fit in with
the overall scheme of existence; thus, there are chapters titled
"Compost and Its Moral Imperatives" and "The Idea of a Garden." Although
serious in import, the writing is never ponderous; [Pollan]'s wit