Urban Farming as life therapy in a novel

Amazon tossed me a new novel yesterday....  Digging In by Loretta Nyhan.  Thought it was cool that it  is about a woman overcome with grief who finds salvation in turning her yard into a vegetable garden.

Know of other novels that use food production or homesteading type actions to redeem or save?

Ahh... have you read the 'Virgin River'series byRobyn Carr? Book 12 Wild Man Creek is exactly about that and book 13 is about the sister who is a chef.
All the books are good. I've listened to them many times. I think wild man creek is my favorite because it's about a woman who gardens with a passion and transforms her life in the process.

Susan Kay wrote:Ahh... have you read the 'Virgin River'series by Robyn Carr?

No, I haven't Susan, but will get them on my wishlist at Amazon.  Thanks!

While I haven't read many books that involve gardening as a way to overcome troubles or grief, I have seen it used this way at several institutions, the effect on the patients is awesome.
I know that sitting in the soil (or on it if you prefer) has profound effects on human well being, both mentally and physically, it soothes the whole of the being.
There is a great disconnect that causes much mental strife within a person, whether they recognize it or not, get one of these people to touch the earth mother for any length of time and they will feel better, about everything and themselves.

Bryant RedHawk wrote:...get one of these people to touch the earth mother for any length of time and they will feel better, about everything and themselves.

Totally agree.  My maternal grandmother was French, Seneca and Caddo.  Wherever she lived, she had a garden.  Even when she had to live in an apartment for a short while, she turned the little bit of land between the parking lot and the backs of the buildings into food production.  When I started wanting to spend more time flirting with boys than productive activities, she took me out to the yard, grabbed my hands and put dirt in both of them, telling me that one was where I came from and then the other was where I was going.  Life, she said, is what we plant and care for in between.  Did I want something beautiful and nurturing, something that could feed myself and the future or just weeds? Thus the dirt became my therapist and my 'church'.

It took me a while to get there, but for at least the past 30+ years I have followed her practice of beginning each day outside, briefly addressing the Tunkasilas and Uncis with gratitude for the day and touching the earth.