An Eden of Sorts: The Natural History of My Feral Garden

Twenty-five years ago Mitchell cut down a 1 1/2-acre stand of 75-year-old white pines and planted a garden in their place. AN EDEN OF SORTS is a history of the plants and animals that lived on the tract over the next decades, including two generations of half-wild children! What started out as a plot with no more that five or six flowering plants and shrubs, over the years grew into more than a thousand species of plants and animals inhabiting the property. This is a paradoxical yet hopeful narrative of what can happen to a plot of land when it is properly managed.

The story of how land can blossom—literally—with proper management.

John Hanson Mitchell is the author of several books, including A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard (Countryman) and Ceremonial Time, and the editor of the award-winning natural history/environmental journal Sanctuary, published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He lives and gardens in Littleton, MA.