Trudi's Garden: The Story of Trudi Temple, Founder of Market Day

Lush photographs, family snapshots and sidebars with cozy (and sometimes corny) advice for keeping up one's home and garden ("Whether a garden is large or small, make it exciting") create a solid foundation for Temple's uplifting memoir. Beginning with her humble childhood in 1940s and '50s Germany, she recounts the hardships of her youth while highlighting memories of her close-knit family. (Scattered within the part about her early years are maps, time lines and recipes for some of her favorite treats.) After accepting a marriage proposal from an American pilot, Temple immigrated to the U.S. While raising her two daughters, she began Market Day. Originally designed as a small business to raise money for her church's missions while providing her neighbors with fresh food from Chicago's wholesale markets, it grew quickly into a food cooperative used as a fund-raising tool for education, operating in more than 19 states. Through the joy of seeing her children succeed, and the pain of losing her husband of 34 years, Temple developed a simple philosophy—sweetly illustrated here—of reducing waste and increasing her quality of life at home and in the community. 140 color photos. (Jan.)