Garden Variety: A Novel

by Christy Wilhelmi

Overview

If you thought community gardening was nothing but pulling weeds and planting seeds think again. In this fresh and delightful debut, Christy Wilhelmi shows that there’s more to gardening than merely keeping pests at bay …

Each time Lizzie steps through the gates of the Vista Mar Community Gardens, she knows she’s left the chaos of the outside world behind. Here, the rows are even, tools are properly stored, and each season brings new life. But even the shiniest apple can hide a worm, and behind the leafy green façade there is hidden heartbreak, tomato hornworms, and inter-garden political powerplays.

And to make things worse—a long forgotten loophole enacted by a nasty neighbor brings the outside world crashing in. The members are feuding, Lizzie’s budding romance is wilting on the vine, and the very existence of Vista Mar is threatened. Can Lizzie and her fellow gardeners fight to save their urban oasis while they struggle to stay grounded in this chaotic city? 

Garden Variety is as much about growing food and flowers as it is about life’s growing pains, and how a community rallies and comes together to save their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063113497
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/01/2022
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Christy Wilhelmi empowers people to grow their own food, to be more self-reliant, and to reduce pollution and waste, one garden at a time. Christy is founder of Gardenerd, the ultimate resource for garden nerds, where she publishes newsletters, her popular blog, and top-ranked podcasts. She also specializes in small-space, organic vegetable garden design and consulting. She holds regular organic gardening classes in California, and has co-taught organic gardening at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA.

Her writing has appeared in many gardening and food blogs and magazines. She is also the author of three nonfiction gardening books: Gardening for Geeks, 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success: A Decade of Tricks, Tools, Recipes, and Resources from Gardenerd.com, and Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden.

Editorial Reviews

"You don’t have to be an avid gardener to fall in love with Garden Variety and the characters from Vista Mar… Every time I opened it, Christy Wilhelmi made me feel like I was coming back to a place of comfort, compassion, and sympathy with a good smattering of dry humor and no-nonsense honesty." — Milla Jovovich

From the Publisher

"You don’t have to be an avid gardener to fall in love with Garden Variety and the characters from Vista Mar… Every time I opened it, Christy Wilhelmi made me feel like I was coming back to a place of comfort, compassion, and sympathy with a good smattering of dry humor and no-nonsense honesty."

Milla Jovovich

2022-03-02
With love, understanding, and attention, a Los Angeles woman blossoms—much like her beloved community garden.

The Vista Mar Community Garden has been a staple of the neighborhood for more than 30 years. Overlooking the ocean and its glorious sunsets, the seven acres are home to individual plots that local residents can pay a nominal fee to cultivate. Board meetings, potlucks, the sharing of recipes, bickering, and the ebb and flow of relationships all take place as the seasons change and crops grow, are harvested, and new crops are planted. Underlying it all is the cantankerous relationship the gardeners have with a longtime homeowner across the street, Kurt Arnold, who detests the way the garden looks, despoiling his ocean view and bringing the wrong kind of people to his neighborhood. Lizzie, a section rep tasked with keeping order, explaining the rules and regulations, and writing citations, has created barriers in her life between herself and others, her work, and her time in the garden. After a failed relationship with a fellow gardener, she thinks her walls are stronger than ever—until she realizes they aren't. Jared is a new gardener, a jack-of-all-trades who's just looking for something fun and new to do. Ralph is a shy, awkward programmer who's been a member for years. Ned, a retired engineer, has been the backbone of the garden for decades, repairing what needs repair and overseeing the space as the garden master. Mary, divorced with grandchildren, is the garden’s current president, and Bernice, a longtime gardener, has aspirations to become president. Author Wilhelmi has created a story that focuses closely on the seasonality of the crops as well as the choices and actions of Lizzie and a core group of gardeners as the very existence of their beloved place is thrown into question.

A gentle story that unfolds through the seasons as love blossoms, crops are grown, and a community garden is protected.

Kirkus Reviews