Happy Earth Day

For the next few days, this space will dedicate itself to Earth Day (April 22nd) in the form of the Earth Day Reading Project.

It's a  little idea cooked up by fellow garden blogger, The Sage Butterfly.

So I’ll use this space to share three books that have moved me to care more about Earth and the creatures and plants living here.

You may notice these books aren’t necessarily about Green Living.

They are also some of the best books I’ve ever read.

Here they are:


The Cosmic Serpent  by Jeremy Narby

 Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has written an account of Shamanic communication between plants and people that reads like the best mystery or thriller. It also humbled this reader with its perspective on the “intelligence” of non-human life forms, especially plants.

Siddhartha  by Herman Hesse

This account of how Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha is inspiring throughout, but ends with an unforgettable description of the interconnectedness of all things. “This is a stone,” says Siddhartha at the end “and within a certain length of time it will perhaps be soil and from the soil it will become plant, animal, or man… [But] I do not respect and love it because it was one thing and will become something else, but because it has already long been everything and always is everything.” This book also comforts me when I fear that the world is falling apart. Siddhartha says to his friend, Govinda, “The world, Govinda, is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a long path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people—eternal life…Therefore it seems to me that everything that exists is good—death as well as life, sin as well as holiness, wisdom as well as folly.”


Ishmael  by Daniel Quinn

 This book, published as a global wake-up call in 1992, is probably more relevant today than ever. It was the first book I’d ever read that detailed exactly how humans violate the natural laws of competition between species, and what has happened as a result.








Here are some other great blogs with green themes:

Partly Sunny Chance of Rain : a hilarious mother-of-two blogs about trying to hold it all together in a mad, mad world. Here’s her most recent post about living green.

South of Sunnybrook: A talented, creative mom blogging about living, gardening, and eating simply. Her posts include making seed starting pots from toilet paper cores  and making your own, extremely effective, multi-purpose cleaner

The Gardens at Melissa Majora: Kris, an Ohio gardener, turned her 1.25 acre property into a bee and pollinator sanctuary. You’ll find loads of lively posts as well as links for planning your own pollinator garden.

A Year in a Gippsland Garden:  An Australian garden blog with engaging writing and loads of links about attracting bees and butterflies and worm composting. Here’s her post about her (organic) battle against bugs on her tomatoes.

Jean's Garden: A sociologist and gardener with mean green skills. If gardening is what she’s second best at, then she must be a kick butt sociologist. Here’s her post on earth-friendly plant choices.

Visionary Gleam: Okay, I don’t actually know if Jim Lewis, garden blogger, is green or not. But I sort of don’t care.  His blog is an irresistible treat. He's funny, he’s a fantastic writer, and he’s gardening! What more could you ask for? Consider this link the toy that comes with the meal.