Jeanne Nolan’s new book, From the Ground Up, is a rare and improbable thing: a gripping gardening memoir. That’s not because of the author worrying whether her seeds will sprout, or if her crops will be damaged by a grasshopper plague—her seeds always sprout, and her domain isn’t the harsh plains of Little House on the Prairie but rather the backyards and vacant lots of Chicago and its suburbs, where, if nothing grows, there’s always Whole Foods. No, what’s gripping about Ground Up is Nolan herself.
In 2004, Nolan and her young daughter came home to Winnetka. At first she was overwhelmed by culture shock. Her mother suggested that it might be soothing if she planted a garden. In the process of hunting down soil, fertilizer, and seeds, Nolan realized that while she’d been away, organic farming had gone mainstream, even on the North Shore. Within a year, she had a job at the Green City Market and her own business, the Organic Gardener, and was planting gardens in Glencoe, Lake Forest, and Lincoln Park.
By Jeanne Nolan Reading Fri 8/2, 7 PM
Lake Forest Book Store
680 N. Western, Lake Forestlakeforestbookstore.com Free
