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Now In: Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul
| Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul
(Paperback)
101 Stories to Sow Seeds of Love, Hope and Laughter
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List Price: $14.95 HCI-Online.com: $10.47
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Book Description
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Read an Excerpt
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About the Authors
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Book Details
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| For beginning gardeners and veteran green-thumbs-this uplifting collection of stories is filled with what every gardener knows-gardens fill lives with a special richness because they are a living reminder of the beauty in the world.
Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul celebrates all the magic of gardening-the feeling of satisfaction that comes from creating something from nothing; the physical and spiritual renewal the earth provides; and the special moments shared with friends and family only nature can bestow. Written by hobbyists and celebrity gardeners, the stories relate the joys and challenges of gardening, with chapters on Blossoming Friendships, The Family Tree, Love in Bloom, The Seasons of Life, Overcoming Obstacles and Potpourri. |
The Plum Pretty Sister
There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.
Elizabeth Lawrence
Justin was a climber. By one and a half, he had discovered the purple plum tree in the backyard, and its friendly branches became his favorite hangout.
At first he would climb just a few feet and make himself comfortable in the curve where the trunk met the branches. Soon he was building himself a small fort and dragging his toy tractors and trucks up to their new garage.
One day when he was two, Justin was playing in the tree as usual. I turned my back to prune the rosebush, and he disappeared.
"Justin, where are you?" I hollered.
His tiny voice called back, "Up here, Mommy, picking all the plums for you!"
When Justin was three, I became pregnant. My husband and I explained to him that we were going to have another baby as a playmate for him.
He was very excited, kissed my tummy and said, "Hello, baby, I'm your big brother, Justin."
From the beginning he was sure he was going to have a little sister, and every day he'd beg to know if she was ready to play yet. When I explained that the baby wasn't arriving until the end of June, he seemed confused.
One day he asked, "When is June, Mommy?"
I realized I needed a better explanation; how could a three-year-old know what "June" meant? Just then, as Justin climbed into the low branches of the plum tree, he gave me the answer I was looking for . . . his special tree.
"Justin, the baby is going to be born when the plums are ripe. You can keep me posted when that will be, okay?" I wasn't completely sure if I was on target, but the gardener in me was confident I'd be close enough.
Oh, he was excited! Now Justin had a way to know when his new baby sister would come to play. From that moment on, he checked the old plum tree several times a day and reported his findings to me. Of course, he was quite concerned in November when all the leaves fell off the tree. By January, with the cold and the rains, he was truly worried whether his baby would be cold and wet like his tree. He whispered to my tummy that the tree was strong and that she (the baby) had to be strong too, and make it through the winter.
By February a few purple leaves began to shoot forth, and his excitement couldn't be contained.
"My tree is growing, Mommy! Pretty soon she'll have baby plums, and then I'll have my baby sister."
March brought the plum's beautiful tiny white flowers, and Justin was overjoyed.
"She's b'ooming, Mommy!" he chattered, struggling with the word "blooming." He rushed to kiss my tummy and got kicked in the mouth.
"The baby's moving, Mommy, she's b'ooming, too. I think she wants to come out and see the flowers."
So it went for the next couple of months, as Justin checked every detail of his precious plum tree and reported to me about the flowers turning to tiny beads that would become plums.
The rebirth of his tree gave me ample opportunity to explain the development of the fetus that was growing inside me. Sometimes I think he believed I had actually planted a "baby seed" inside my tummy, because when I drank water he'd say things like, "You're watering our little flower, Mommy!" I'd laugh and once again explain in simple terms the story of the birds and the bees, the plants and the trees.
June finally arrived, and so did the purple plums. At first they were fairly small, but Justin climbed his tree anyway to pick some plums off the branches where the sun shone warmest. He brought them to me to let me know the baby wasn't ripe yet.
I felt ripe! I was ready to pop! When were the plums going to start falling from that darn tree?
Justin would rub my tummy and talk to his baby sister, telling her she had to wait a little longer because the fruit was not ready to be picked yet. His forays into the plum tree lasted longer each day, as if he was coaxing the tree to ripen quickly. He talked to the tree and thanked it for letting him know about this important event in his life. Then one day, it happened. Justin came running into the house, his eyes as big as saucers, with a plastic bucket full to the brim of juicy purple plums.
"Hurry, Mommy, hurry!" he shouted. "She's coming, she's coming! The plums are ripe, the plums are ripe!",
I laughed uncontrollably as Justin stared at my stomach, as if he expected to see his baby sister erupt any moment. That morning I did feel a bit queasy, and it wasn't because I had a dental appointment.
Before we left the house, Justin went out to hug his plum tree and whisper that today was the day his "plum pretty sister" would arrive. He was certain.
As I sat in the dental chair, the labor pains began, just as Justin had predicted. Our "plum" baby was coming! I called my parents, and my husband rushed me to the hospital. At 6:03 p.m. on June 22, the day that will forever live in family fame as "Plum Pretty Sister Day," our daughter was born. We didn't name her Purple Plum as Justin suggested, but chose another favorite flower, Heather.
At Heather's homecoming, Justin kissed his new playmate and presented her with his plastic bucket, full to the brim with sweet, ripe, purple plums.
"These are for you," he said proudly.
Justin and Heather are now teenagers, and the plum tree has become our bonding symbol. Although we moved from the home that housed Justin's favorite plum tree, the first tree to be planted in our new yard was a purple plum, so that Justin and Heather could know when to expect her special day. Throughout their growing-up years, the children spent countless hours nestled in the branches, counting down the days through the birth of leaves, flowers, buds and fruit. Our birthday parties are always festooned with plum branches and baskets brimming with freshly picked purple plums. Because as Mother Nature--and Justin--would have it, for the last fifteen years, the purple plum has ripened exactly on June 22.
Cynthia Brian
(c)2000. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marion Owen, Cindy Buck, Carol Sturgulewski, Pat Stone, Cynthia Brian. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.
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Jack CanfieldJack Canfield is a best-selling author and one of America’s leading experts in the development of human potential. He is both a dynamic and entertaining speaker and a highly sought-after trainer with a wonderful ability to inform and inspire audiences to pen their hearts, love more openly and pursue their dreams. He is the author and narrator of several best-selling audio- and video cassette programs, including Self Esteem and Peak Performance, How to Build High Self-Esteem, Self-Esteem in the Classroom and Chicken Soup for the Soul – Live. He is regularly seen on television shows such as Good Morning America, 20/20 and NBC Nightly News. Jack has co-authored numerous books, including the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Mark Victor Hansen), 100 Ways to Build Self-Concept in the Classroom (with Harold C. Wells) and Heart At Work (with Jacqueline Miller). Jack is a regularly featured speaker for professional associations, school districts, government agencies, churches, hospitals, sales organizations and corporations. Jack conducts an annual eight-day Training of Trainers program in the areas of self esteem and peak performance. It attracts educators, counselors, parenting trainers, corporate trainers, professional speakers, ministers and other interested in developing their speaking and seminar-leading skills. Visit the Chicken Soup for the Soul website, at www.chickensoup.com. [ More]
Mark Victor HansenMark Victor Hansen is a professional speakers who, in the last twenty years, had made over four-thousand presentations to more than 2 million people in 32 countries. His presentations cover sales excellence and strategies; personal empowerment and development; and how to triple your income and double your time off.
Mark has spent a lifetime dedicated to his mission of making a profound and positive difference in people’s lives. Throughout his career, he has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to create a more powerful and purposeful future for themselves while stimulating the sale of billions of dollars worth of goods and services.
Marc is a prolific writer and has authored Future Diary, How to Achieve Total Prosperity and The Miracle of Tithing. He is co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, Dare to Win and The Aladdin Factor (all with Jack Canfield), and The Master Motivator (with Joe Batten).
Mark has also produced a complete library of personal empowerment audio- and videocassette programs that have enabled his listeners to recognize and use their innate abilities in their business and personal lives. His message has made him a popular television and radio personality, with appearances on ABC, CBS, HBO, PBS, and CNN. He has also appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, including Success, Entrepreneur and Changes.
Mark is a big man with a heart and spirit to match — an inspiration to all who seek to better themselves.
Visit the Chicken Soup for the Soul website, at www.chickensoup.com. [ More]
Marion OwenAfter eight years at sea as a seaman and merchant marine officer, Marion Owen found a home ashore in 1984 in Kodiak, Alaska. Switching her focus to the land, Marion became a master gardener and passionate organic gardener. Now she has thirty raised beds filled with flowers, vegetables and herbs—a teaching garden, where visitors are welcome to explore and learn.
Marion is known as "The Compost Queen." In her columns for newspapers, magazines and Web sites, her articles cover everything from organic gardening techniques, to environmental issues, composting, cooking and healthy living. She also enjoys developing "sneaky nutrition" recipes such as "Out of This World Chocolate Beet Cake," as a way to get nutritious food into family meals. Marion also developed and patented PlanTea, an organic fertilizer in convenient tea bags for the home gardener (marion@ptialaska.net
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Cindy BuckCindy Buck got her start as a gardener when a friend gave her and her husband, Rob, a whole gardenful of divided perennials as a wedding present. She has been cultivating a green thumb ever since and is proud to have recently graduated to planting from seed. Inspired by the stories she read in compiling this book, Cindy holds regular gardening and storytelling sessions at a local senior care center.
A writer, editor and trainer, Cindy is the author of over forty software manuals and tutorials. She has designed and presented software training programs for numerous companies, including Leaf, Inc., AMC Theaters, Boatman's Bank and the Iowa State Court System. Cindy also writes promotional materials for businesses and freelance articles for magazines and newspapers. Recently she has contributed stories and her editing talents to other Chicken Soup for the Soul books.
A professional speaker since 1974, Cindy has spoken extensively about personal growth and self-development. Audiences find her dynamic presentations inspiring and enjoyable. Through Yes to Success Seminars, she has shared tools for self-discovery and greater personal and professional effectiveness. She also teaches stress management programs to the general public.
Cindy is a frequent performer with the Iowa Theatre Company and a volunteer coach for ITC's "In the Schools" program. She also serves as a judge at the regional and state level for the Iowa High School Speech Association. You might hear her voice on the radio as she performs in commercials for the award-winning Hedquist Productions, for which she also reads stories for the Chicken Soup for the Soul audiobooks.
Drawing on her personal experiences and the stories of thousands of gardeners, Cindy presents programs on topics such as tending the gardener's soul to cultivate joy and reap success. For more information, you can reach her at:
908 E. Adams St.
Fairfield, IA 52556
Phone: 641-472-7586
cbuck@kdsi.net
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Carol SturgulewskiCarol Sturgulewski's favorite garden has no boundaries. Growing up in coastal Alaska, she was surrounded by forest. She remembers hunting for wild sourdock with her grandmother, and nibbling cow parsnip stalks and spruce tree tips with neighbor children. As a young woman, she began collecting books on wildflowers and plants, learning how native peoples used nature's harvest for food and medicine. She became an ardent berry-picker. And to her neighbors' dismay, Carol's fondness for native plants prompted her to transplant some of her favorite "weeds" when she recently moved from Kodiak Island to mainland Alaska.
In her professional life, Carol is an award-winning writer on the state and regional level, and former president of The Alaska Press Club. She spent nearly twenty years as a writer and editor for Alaska's three largest newspapers and several smaller papers, specializing in features and education. She also worked as a newspaper magazine writer in Michigan before returning to her Alaskan roots.
When not occupied as a full-time mom, Carol continues to do freelance writing and editing for newspapers and other publications, such as Alaska magazine. Carol has also led writing workshops for students from grade school through college, and taught journalism for the University of Alaska. Her familiarity with her native state has helped in her work for regional guidebooks, including Frommer's and Alaska's Best.
Carol firmly believes that every person can make a difference in the world. A committed volunteer, she has served on boards supporting public broadcasting, literacy, education, and the interests of children, women and senior citizens.
Carol and her husband, Roe, now live in Anchorage, Alaska with their sons, Ben, Ted and Hugh. Their backyard is popular with kids, moose, bears, rabbits, squirrels, wild berries—and a few select "weeds."
You can reach Carol at:
5120 Manytell Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99516
E-mail: carolben@gci.net
[ More]
Pat StonePat Stone is a Christian, a husband and a father. He feels blessed to have a wonderful wife (Becky), four terrific children (Nate, Jesse, Sammy and Tucker), and to live as part of a caring community in the mountains of western North Carolina.
Pat has a garden media career that spans two decades and includes everything from "Mother Earth News" to "CBS This Morning." But his pride and joy is being the editor and creator of GreenPrints, "The Weeder's Digest," the only magazine that shares the human side of gardening. One day back in 1990, he noticed that there are over 100 how-to garden publications . . . but not one about the joys, humor and heart of gardening.
So, with the help of his family, Pat created it. GreenPrints continues today to be an inspirational and heartfelt "Weeder's Digest" of personal garden stories. One reader described it as "a hyacinth for the soul."
Pat is also a professional gardening storyteller, "the Garrison Keillor of Gardening."
For more information about GreenPrints magazine or engaging Pat as a speaker, contact him at:
GreenPrints
P.O. Box 1355
Fairview, NC 28730
Phone: 828-628-1902
www.greenprints.com
E-mail: greenprints@cheta.net
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Cynthia Brian
Cynthia Brian has been a garden aficionado since she was a little girl. Born on a farm in the Napa Valley, the eldest of five children, she was a 4-H'er who raised chickens and sheep, drove tractors and picked fruit to finance her college education. Named The Outstanding Teenager of California, she was a teen ambassador to Holland for eighteen months, working as a foreign correspondent.
Cynthia's passion for traveling and people is matched by her enthusiasm for acting and modeling, which she has done professionally for twenty-five years as a SAG/AFTRA performer of films, TV, commercials and print ads. She currently hosts two TV series, Live Your Dreams and The Business of Showbusiness, and a personal growth radio program. Her book The Business of Showbusiness has served as a popular guide for thespians. Through her company, Starstyle Productions, Cynthia offers private success coaching and dynamic presentations. Cynthia and her daughter, Heather Brittany, also cohost TV's and radio's Animal Cuts.
Cynthia, a California certified interior designer and professional member of ASID and IDS, is also president of Starstyle Interiors and Designs, an interior and garden design firm. Her designs have been featured in books, magazines, newspapers and television shows.
Cynthia is the author of A Gardener's Calendar and the books Be The Star You Are!, 99 Gifts to Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning to Make a Difference (Ten Speed Press) and Miracle Moments. Her syndicated column, "Business Bytes," is read in newspapers worldwide.
Cynthia also founded the 501(c)(3) charity Be The Star You Are!, providing positive-message books, audiotapes, videotapes and music to other charities and those in need of tools for daily living ( www.bethestaryouare.org).
Cynthia gardens on four acres and plays with her animal menagerie including poultry, goats, rabbits, horses, dogs, cats and birds on the mini-farm she shares with her husband and two children in Northern California.
To book Cynthia as an actress, spokesperson or speaker contact:
Starstyle Productions
P.O. Box 422
Moraga, California 94556
Web site: www.star-style.com
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Inventory: Available usually ships within 24–48 hours
ISBN-10: 1558748865
ISBN-13: 9781558748866
HCI-Item: 8865
Book Format: Paperback
Page Count: 384
Publication Date: 02/15/2001
Category: Gardening/Inspiration/Audio
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