Book Reviews
Rating: 5 stars
In GATHER AND MAKE, author Genevieve Layman creates a comprehensive garden-craft book complete with gardening tips, step-by-step plant-based DIY projects, and a host of ideas for gardeners of every skill level. Though she lives and gardens in the maritime Northwest climate of Portland, Oregon, the plants and ideas used in her book are easily adaptable for other areas of the United States.
Discovering her passion for nature as a young child, Genevieve Layman continued to embrace her love of plants through studying ethnobotany as a teenager, when she was introduced to the cultural and traditional usage of plants. After graduating from college and moving to Portland, the author worked for AmeriCorps educating young children about land, plants, and farming. She eventually became interested in how nature affects human health and began her study of horticultural therapy, which led her to pursue a career in the field. GATHER AND MAKE is the creative output of her years of studying and observing the benefits of plants on every aspect of human health–emotional, physical, and psychological. The book is filled with information about growing and using plants and is easily accessible for all.
GATHER AND MAKE is a beautifully arranged book with garden and craft ideas divided into monthly sections. Beginning with January, Layman offers ideas for garden crafts and projects in twelve insightful and inspirational chapters. The book covers much more than the usual gardening and crafting book with each monthly division containing several crafts color-coded for their level of difficulty, garden tips for the Northwest gardener, and themes and trivia for the flowers and plants used for that month’s crafts. Projects are written clearly with step-by-step instructions, a materials list, diagrams, suggestions for utilizing and caring for completed projects, and accompanying color photos. Including reference materials concerning the benefits of plant engagement, information about horticultural therapy, an alphabetical guide to the plants used in the book, and a glossary, GATHER AND MAKE is a comprehensive work about plants and plant-based crafts.
Whether one wishes to create a simple terrarium, learn how to weave lavender, or make paper embedded with seeds for a unique gift, there is much to learn from GATHER AND MAKE, a gorgeous and informative book with a plethora of ideas, projects, and growing tips that contains all one needs to begin or continue the journey into gardening with passion and purpose.
~Kat Kennedy for IndieReader
Rating: 5 stars
Gather & Make: Plant-Based Projects Through the Seasons by Genevieve Layman is a gorgeous art- and nature-fueled extravaganza. Layman begins the book by detailing her relationship with plants and animals, and how her curiosity toward these subjects has evolved organically as she has grown. Regardless of one’s age, interest, or artistic skill level, Layman says, there exists a craft or a project that is suitable for each and every one of us. The book is sectioned by month, providing three projects that are best suited to showcase the plants and found objects that are available during that season. Layman designates the difficulty of her crafts by one of three different levels—easy to complete, moderately easy, and somewhat difficult—though, in truth, her directions are clear enough such that none of the projects comes across as too unapproachable for a crafting novice.
Gather & Make is the perfect example of how a person’s interests can be channeled into a productive, relaxing, and aesthetically-pleasing pastime. The projects in Layman’s book vary enough that each one continually offers new challenges and rewards for the reader. Aside from offering directions for a number of different crafts, the book also contains dozens of stunning color photographs, planting and harvesting instructions that are tailor made for each month, and trivia tidbits following each section of the book. Layman photographed the subjects in the book herself, and the mixture of neutral backgrounds she has selected for the images—ranging from slate gray to eggshell white to a striking charcoal—are perfectly suited for showing off the rainbow hues in the flowers, seedpods, and grasses she utilizes. Though we heartily recommend that readers try their own hand at the wide range of crafts in Gather and Make, we know that life doesn’t always allow for leisure time. If nothing else, this book will be a beautiful and practical addition to any home library—and an excellent reminder that sometimes it is the quietest and humblest moments that are the most rewarding.
Rating: 5-stars
Gather & Make by Genevieve Layman is one of the most interesting garden and nature books that I’ve read. Here, she discusses things such as the benefits of plants and nature to us humans. Insects like the bees are crucial to plants. There’s even a project to make for insects. I did not realize how many health benefits there was just in interacting with mother nature. But that was not the only things I discovered. Did you know that there is such a thing as horticultural therapy? I did not. Genevieve’s book has taught me a lot. It’s inspiring, peaceful, and fun. Plus, it’s educational to read. Inserted in this nonfiction book, are projects, trivia, and facts for each section. These informative pieces are not things I would have come across in similar books. The book isn’t just facts and text. There are step-by-step guides, and pictures that go in hand with everything she discusses. Especially, on the health benefits. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to all readers. Genevieve Layman is definitely an expert in her field of study, and her book is a must have. Old or young, there are plenty of things to do and learn in Gather & Make for all.
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