Book Review Jan Hoyland is a professional garden designer, consultant, educator and author. Jan is also a smallholder on the wild moors of North Yorkshire and it's through this aspect of her life I first connected with her stunning photos and wisdom on social media. I was so excited when Jan first announced the arrival of her book and the experience of my first read of it has been just as powerful as I had hoped.
The Alchemy of Gardening is a beautiful mix of the story of a garden, regenerative horticultural advice, gardening history and memoir. Jan’s reflective and accessible writing style invites us to share her journey of how she used a deepening connection with nature in her gardening practice to manage a new diagnosis of a life changing chronic illness, a story so similar to my own. The chapters in Jan’s book take us around the Earth based spirituality Wheel of the Year. Through the eight festivals of that Wheel, Jan draws upon permaculture principles, philosophy and her own extensive knowledge and experience to offer the reader everyday practical seasonal gardening tips and insight into how transformative the human relationship with land can be. Jan’s wise and wonderfully reflective words are illustrated with stunning lino prints by Sally Zarenco another North Yorkshire based creative. You can buy prints of this work from Sally’s website Ashford Cottage Design The Alchemy of Gardening is an important addition to the bookshelves of gardeners, permaculture designers, chronic illness folk and anyone interested in the essential role that furthering nature connection plays in the healing of Earth. You can buy The Alchemy of Gardening from York Book Shop
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