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“Margaret Simons, queen of the tiny vegetable garden, heartened me with her radiant pragmatism.” ―Helen Garner, author of This House of Grief

Life lessons from the ground up.

Sometimes you reap what you sow. Sometimes you reap what other people sowed. Sometimes you haven't got a clue what you are sowing, and sometimes you just get lucky, or unlucky. All these things are true of life, as of gardening.

In this thoughtful and beautifully observed book, journalist and gardening enthusiast Margaret Simons takes readers on a journey through the seasons, through her life, and through the tiny patch of inner-urban earth that is home to her garden.

Over the course of a year, within the garden and without, there are births to celebrate and deaths to mourn; there are periods of great happiness and light, and times of quiet reflection. There is, in other words, all the chaos, joy, sorrow, and splendor of being alive.

Margaret Simons is an award-winning freelance journalist and author, and a journalism academic at the University of Melbourne. She has published thirteen books, including biographies of the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, and Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs, which won book of the year and best nonfiction book at the 2010 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. In the past, Simons has worked for The Age and The Australian newspapers. As a freelancer, she has had work published in dozens of magazines and newspapers in Australia and overseas. Margaret lives in Melbourne.