Earthly Pleasures: Tales from a Biologist's Garden

by Roger B. Swain

Book Overview

"This combination of Cambridge and cow chips produces a genre of literature that ennobles the commonplace and lends a sense of appreciation to everyday things". -- The Sciences

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684166577
• ISBN13: 9780684166575
• Release Date: February 1981
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Earthly Pleasures

Anyone growing up or living on a working farm in Ohio (or any other small family farm location) should relate to this book if for no other reason than picturing a dairy cow, floating with inner tubes around each leg, happily munching on duckweed. Each of the short essays, originally found in Horticulture Magazine, entertain and educate. Mr. Swain's easy writing style holds your attention quite easily. It is possible to read the entire book in one sitting, however, it is equally possible to put the book down after each essay and think about the intracacies of nature and living. If you can find the original hard bound book with the marvelous illustrations, it is well worth the effort to do so.

Light reading for gardeners

This book is a collection of essays by Roger Swain, biologist and gardener. The essays all originally appeared in Horticulture magazine during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are loosely arranged around the gardening calendar year, from maple sugaring season to ripening of tomatoes to mistletoe. Other topics covered include parsnips, classification of species, insect seed dispersal, tree bark, shade-loving plants, roadsalt, woodchucks, dung beetles, attracting wild bees, duckweed, lightning, night-blooming plants, fungus and roots, sauerkraut, squirrels and nuts, fungus and food rot, and snow cover. End material includes suggestions for further reading and an index. The essays are short and written in very informal style-in fact, the entire book can be read cover-to-cover in a few hours. Mixed in with Swain's personal experiences in the garden are some tidbits of useful information, like how to maximize the sugar content in one's parsnips, or the nutritional value of duckweed. Altogether, it makes for light yet worthwhile reading.

A good book to recommend to others or give as a gift.

An excellent book! Short chapters about the biological happenings in and around a garden, yard, woodlot, etc. A good book to recommend to others or to give as a gift. Easy to understand, even for a total non-biologist, but not condescending to someone who knows something about the subject. Interesting, new, and informative.