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Rating: 
Summary: please reprint this book!
Review: Dear Publisher...please reprint this book. I love Henry Mitchell. I was one of the 'blessed' because I actually read Mr. Mitchell's columns (both of them) for years. I live in the Washington DC area, and subscribed to the Post. Those of us who gardened locally were twice blessed because he was not only one of the best garden writers ever, he struggled with the heat, humidity, and high winds that attack us from all sides. Whenever I am in my garden I think of him. When I look at my Japanese Anemones I remember he said "Once you have them you'll always have them." There have been times when I thought for sure they were goners, but they always survived. When I see a little plant struggling under a bush, I remember him saying, "One of these days I'll have to crawl under there and pull it out." When I see a fish tank, I think of him and his horse trough. I miss him.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth a second try
Review: I bought this book a few years ago based on the reviews. When I got it I tore into it and was sorely disappointed. That's the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars. Why even 4 stars you ask? Well, about a month ago, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and now I LOVE IT! Henry Mitchell is dry - like the soil under an oak. But he's terribly warm and fuzzy once you get to know him. I write a newsletter for my local garden club and have found quote after quote that I want to use for future issues. They're not la-dee-dah quotes that speak vaguely about the lovely joys of gardening. BLAH! Rather, they're jewels that point fingers at snobby gardeners and kill-joys who scold children for picking crocuses. This is not a "pretty picture" book. It's sort of a how-to in an essay form. But more than that, it's great writing by a wonderful author on a topic I am crazy for.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a second try
Review: I bought this book a few years ago based on the reviews. When I got it I tore into it and was sorely disappointed. That's the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars. Why even 4 stars you ask? Well, about a month ago, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and now I LOVE IT! Henry Mitchell is dry - like the soil under an oak. But he's terribly warm and fuzzy once you get to know him. I write a newsletter for my local garden club and have found quote after quote that I want to use for future issues. They're not la-dee-dah quotes that speak vaguely about the lovely joys of gardening. BLAH! Rather, they're jewels that point fingers at snobby gardeners and kill-joys who scold children for picking crocuses. This is not a "pretty picture" book. It's sort of a how-to in an essay form. But more than that, it's great writing by a wonderful author on a topic I am crazy for.
Rating:
Summary: please reprint this book!
Review: I first read Henry Mitchell in the Washington Post when my husband was receiving cancer treatment at NIH in 1982, and when I realized that his columns were collected in The Essential Earthman I immediately bought a copy. I have subsequently owned (and loaned out and thus lost) two or three more copies. As each planting season arrives I remember how much I've missed reading Henry's wisdom, and I berate myself for having loaned out (and lost) those books. So for the sake of upcoming generations of gardeners (and the old hands among us), would someone please reprint this valuable book? It's a book to read in the depth of winter and the heat of summer, in a spacious country garden or a tiny city yard, for beginning gardeners and old timers with permanently-stained hands. There never has been anyone quite like Henry Mitchell on gardening, or on life, for that matter. Grouchy, opinionated, funny, informative, brutally honest--his words will never go out of style.
Rating:
Summary: Henry Mitchell IS the Earthman
Review: My original copy of "The Earthman" is in shreds. Why? I have read (and re-read) The Earthman for more than 20 years. Every time I returned to The Earthman, I had a patient, passionate teacher by my side. With Henry's guidance, I matured. I learned to accept the rains that turned my garden into a sea of mud. I learned to accept the dogs who had a deep need to explore and "investigate" my treasured plants. Henry is my friend and mentor. I cannot imagine life in the garden without him.
Rating:
Summary: Read and read again
Review: The two books I have read cover to cover as gardening advice and as literature are this book and Christopher Lloyd's Adventurous Gardener. I have shelves of gardening and horticultural books.
It gives you more each time you read it.
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