A Man Obsessed

by Mary Jasch

“I'm immersed in horticulture to say the least," says Lee Reich. As a graduate student in theoretical chemistry, he decided he didn't want to make a career out of chemistry, although he loved it. He dropped out, moved to Vermont for a year, and read a lot about gardening. He wanted to learn more about gardening and horticulture so he returned to the University of Wisconsin and earned a masters in soils and another in horticulture.

“The whole time I was doing this I became obsessed with gardening. I started gardening very heavily and was going to school and I also had access to one of the best agricultural libraries in the country so I read voraciously, which I think made for a real good garden quickly." After graduating and working for the Soil Conservation Service, Reich went to the Beltsville US Department of Agriculture Research Center in Maryland to do his doctoral research, then later worked at Cornell for a few years. “The whole time I was gardening passionately and then I started writing and kept going."

So why does he garden edibly? “One reason, personality-wise, I like to be independent. And I like good food and that's one way to get good food and healthy food. And I just like doing it."

“One reason I write about gardening is it's sort of like religion. I think it would be nice if everyone gardened more. When I first started writing about gardening and my garden was smaller, I wanted to make it that whatever I do, the average person who is not totally obsessed with gardening could also do this. With that idea in mind, I think of what most people would be doing and I would do that and maybe I could tell them a better way to do it or a quicker, more efficient way to do it. In the last few years (since I have a little more property), perhaps I got a little more obsessed and grew more and more stuff and I realize my whole garden's not what most people would want to or could find the time or read about enough to do. Sometimes I think maybe it just intimidates." Read about his delicious landscape here.

But Reich's garden, his entire landscape really, inspires and encourages. His focus on easy-to-grow fruits makes it all seem within reach, especially reading his detailed instructions in his book, Uncommon Fruits for every garden. “I was trying to make it so that when people read the book they would feel like they could just go out and do it - not that it's an academic exercise. The source list is an important part. People can actually go out and get the plants."

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published June 08, 2007