GreenPrints E1, Spring 1990

GP#1 has long, long been out of print. Fortunately, now you can download your own complete copy of GreenPrints's original issue! Graphically, it's easy to tell that this was our first attempt; it is a bit plain. Content-wise, though, it has wonderful, wonderful writing: with humor, wisdom, and all the true heart of a valiant, caring, take-a-deep-breath-and-dive-into-the-deep-end first effort. — Pat Stone, Editor

Breaking Ground:

The broader lessons of gardening. GreenPrints starts off with a rare piece by—your editor!

Of Bittersweet and God:

In the garden, on my knees, tuned into station God.

SPECIAL! CLICK THE SAMPLE STORY TAB TO READ GARDEN MEDITATION

Garden Meditation

A heartwarming comparison of friends—with vegetables!

Relax and Name Frogs:

How gardening, and spring frogs, take away tension.

Garden Time:

To get really intimate with your garden, take off your watch.

Bright Hours:

A retired 5th-century Chinese magistrate vows to spend his last days enjoying his garden.

My Father's Hoe:  

Comparing two family heirlooms—a musket and a hoe. A classic essay by Liberty Hyde Bailey. 

Planting Out: 

Sometimes the hardest part of gardening is remembering what you're doing! Humor by Geoffrey's The Opinionated Gardener.

Atlas, the Kingsnake, and Contemporary Landscaping: 

"I didn't start out to re-landscape the yard—or fight global warming. I was just frustrated by our slow (and expensive) curbside trash pick-up."

The Consolation of Flowers

" . . . More and more deeply do flowers give consolation in the wreckage of life, and the heart of the gardener can never be wholly sad so long as the impregnable beauty of life goes on being born of the earth to which we all return . . . " Beautiful words from British plant hunter Reginald Farrer. 

Living with Chickweed:

Any sensible gardener knows how to rationalize the inevitable.

The Love of Dirt:

With dignity and feeling, Charles Dudley Warner’s 120-year-old essay describes a basic human yearning.

AND MORE! 

. . . such as . . . 

When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson