People with Dirty Hands: The Passion for Gardening

by Robin Chotzinoff

Book Overview

There was a wooden picnic table under the grape arbor, where Zelma sat all day when she wasn't actively gardening. She shelled peas, wrote letters, and mended clothes there. The older she got, she said, the less she wanted to be inside. Following Zelma's model, I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden, doing whatever the hell I want. There was a time when this would have sounded unfulfilled to me, if not downright depressing,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028609905
• ISBN13: 9780028609904
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Freaky gardeners grow the best crops

What drives some people to obsess about their tomato plants so much that you wonder if they need a straightjacket as much asa nice gardening hat? Author Robin Chotzinoff went in search of eccentric gardeners who do more than grow veggies, flowersand herbs - they show us how magical a patch of dirt can be. In People With Dirty Hands, read about the Texas RoseRustlers who find old roses growing in the oddest places (like graveyards), propagate them and then sell the flowers to peoplewho aren't interested in raising genetically-altered blossoms. This book also has tales about ladybug farmers, big city manuredelivery folks and more. (...)

It is the perfect gift for the gardening fanatic!!

I absolutely loved this book! It is the perfect gift for the gardening fanatic!!The author, Robin Chotzinoff, decided to tour the country in search of understanding why some people become obsessed with gardening. What she found was a collection of people, as colorful as the plants they grow. A man who grows 450 tomato plants in his backyard, because "You can't buy a tomato." The Texas Rose Rustlers, who propagate old-fashioned roses they find in cemeteries, because "tea roses are impossible!" Then there is the man who earns a living by selling thousands of gallons of ladybugs. Oh, and we must not forget the Green Guerrilla who delivers manure to New York City gardeners. Like many obsessive gardeners, I use to wonder:"Am I alone? Why wasn't everyone an obsessive gardener? How could they not be?"Fear not obsessive gardeners! You are not alone! Robin Chotzinoff says she likes writing about gardeners because they are much more interesting than real people. As I always say, "Anyone can be normal."

My favorite garden book

More chatty and narative, less like a botony text, more like a chat with an old gardener style wise, well many old gardeners, young gardeners, heck just happy gardeners of every sze, shape, color and style. After reading the chapter on roses, my formerly greatest hated flower, I am now an avid rose rustler. Just a great book. Gotta go, working on my garden tonight.Holly

Delightful reading for anyone who ever planted a "pony-pack"

It was a joy to read about others that perceive gardening to be a spiritual experience.Funny,delightful,heart-warming. One destination...many paths.Enrich yourself.

A most for all gardeners

This book is a most for anyone who gardens or knows someone who gardens. Funny, down to earth, and full of interesting stories from across the country. Robin is a gifted writer, I recommend this book highly.