Sprouts and Saplings: Gardening with a Difference

Describing herself as ""primarily a wife and mother,'' Brandies has contributed many essays to general magazines and horticultural publications, usually on aspects of gardening. Here she relates her extensive experiences with gardens, which she has kept since the 1950s at successive Midwest homes with her husband, whom she refers to as ``Spouse,'' and the couple's nine children. The reader both laughs at and learns from the family's adventures in good eating, its serendipitous discoveries and its various planting successes and goofs. The author, who includes recipes for edible and potable treats, makes a convincing case for having a family garden and for cultivating a garden at a nursing home, and Vanden Heuvel's drawings illustrate the rich rewards of ``earthy pursuits.'' This wonder-filled book is a joy to read. (November)