Rabbi Plotkin’s story resonated with the gardener in me, but also I found the story had a strong and enjoyable voice. I felt I got to know the author as I read, and I loved the way he extrapolated wisdom for life from what happened during his gardening efforts. Nature can indeed teach us much.
Who knew a garden could be so smart?
Rabbi Plotkin is approaching middle age. His children are self-sufficient teens, and his large congregation is running efficiently and effectively. He should be happy and satisfied at where he is in life, yet he knows something is missing.
He used to wake up to anxiety and long to-do lists. Now he wakes up concerned about his zucchinis. The change baffles him until he realizes he has a need to nurture, and right now the zucchinis are the only things that really need him. This is the first of many life lessons the garden teaches him about himself and the world around him.
This book is a narrative memoir that will inform your life, amuse you in the process, and maybe even give you the itch to grow a zucchini!
BUY WISDOM GROWS IN MY GARDEN NOW
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT WISDOM GROWS IN MY GARDEN:

“This delightful book by Rabbi Plotkin reveals the wisdoms waiting for us in our gardens: lessons in patience and timing, getting through difficult beginnings, listening deeply to oneself in the midst of the life around us…All this and more awaits our participation, where we find how our own dreams link us to the dreams of the world.” – Dr. Craig Chalquist, Professor and Co-Editor of Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind.
“Wonderfully accessible and engaging, Rabbi Paul Plotkin’s memoir, Wisdom Grows in My Garden is full of lessons learned from a life of giving to others. Now retired but still focused and caring, Rabbi Plotkin nurtures an ever-present and diverse garden. And here the wisdom of a life lived reintroduces itself. Enlightening, topical and humorous, the stories in this book will make you smile and nod in recognition of life’s simplest, and at times unacknowledged lessons. This is a book you will reread again and again and find something new each time.” – Stella Harvey, author (Finding Callidora and others), mentor at Simon Fraser University Writers Studio, and founder of the Whistler Writers festival.
“I finished the book. I enjoyed it. His love and understanding of gardening and of people is highlighted throughout his book. I enjoyed his wisdom and observations of life and the parallels of gardening and living.” – Jennifer Taylor, actress
Leave a Reply