THE GARDEN COTTAGE DIARIES
Subtitle MY YEAR IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
By FIONA J. HOUSTON
Published by
Saraband
ISBN 9781887354776
Category HOME/GARDEN
Summer 2011
Synopsis
Bemoaning the evils of the modern diet, Fiona Houston set out to prove that people ate better 200 years ago than today, but ended up in a yearlong living history experiment. Find out how she grew and cooked food and rediscovered the skills to make everything from coat to candles.
Author's Biography
Fiona J. Houston is a museum researcher, former teacher, journalist, grandmother, avid collector of junk-shop curiosities, and a campaigner for a greener, more sustainable lifestyle. The Garden Cottage Diaries is her first book. Since publication of the hardback edition, she has given talks and demonstrations on her project at museums and for a variety of groups ranging from family history enthusiasts to gardeners and Transition groups, and has also volunteered with school groups to show them how people lived in the past.
Reviews
“Done with great wit and intelligent determination†Felicity Lawrence, The Guardian
“It’s a lovely book, and I strongly recommend it†John-Paul Flintoff, The Times
“A riveting tale of a rather extraordinary journey†Family History Monthly
“This beautifully illustrated journal-style book doubles as a recipe/gardening/how-to manual and makes … an incredibly challenging experience come to life. I couldn’t put it down.†Sarah Palmer, Organic Garden and Home Magazine
“It’s a fascinating and colourful scrapbook. If ever you needed an argument for the survival of the printed book, this is it." Sally Macpherson, Reforesting Scotland Journal
"An interesting and extremely detailed read … in a style that almost makes you yearn to try out the practical tips for real." Gillian Freeland, Scottish Association of Teachers of History Resources Review
Price £16.95 Paperback
Reader Comments
a true record of a brave and challenging enquiry into methods and means we, culturally, seem to think we have evolved beyond, and so have left behind. More to our collective and personal loss, ultimately. The greater the attention which Fi's book garners, the more may be done to reverse some of those losses.
To have volunteered for her year of barley bannocks and a straw bed is one thing but to have evoked it all so successfully is as though Robinson Crusoe had written his own autobiography. Brilliant! And thank you for the insights.We have given copies to some friends who hearing of Miss Houston's story had been inspired to know more.
A highly readable, significant perspective on our present day life as well. Lessons to be drawn in order to separate the good from what has gone seriously and disastrously wrong with the way we live and eat. Clues to how we might ensure a future for ourslves, our health and the survival of the planet in this age of greed and over consumption.
Lovely lovely book. Bought a second copy for my Mum.
A fantastic book, with a fascinating idea behind it, and an entertaining account of how the year went. I also particularly enjoyed the recipes, it is nice to see that traditional recipes can be so delicious, and I have enjoyed making a few on rainy days.
I found the transplanting of day-to-day historical details into the twenty-first century quite fascinating. The author writes well, and with humour, too. Since reading the book, I've given it to many friends.
This engaging book is a really entertaining read, and it is fascinating with its details of family history research, practical veggie & recipe info, and bringing to life how people lived back in the 1790s. It still manages to be funny and very easy to relate to. I loved it and gave a copy to my mum, who has since enthusiastically passed it around all her friends. A real gem of a book!