Simplicity, efficiency, and beauty are all qualities that today"s gardener strives for, and all are exemplified by the nineteenth-century Shaker gardeners. Although less well known today than the Shaker furniture makers, these gardeners ran successful businesses and earned a lasting reputation for the high quality of their vegetable seeds and herbal remedies. Written by Rita Buchanan, an expert on herbs, designed by David Larkin, and with color photographs of present-day Shaker gardens, this book will appeal to the thousands of people who visit Shaker villages each year and to all gardeners who want to grow vegetables and herbs while caring for the earth and the human condition. Quotes from the Shakers" original gardening manual and from individual journals give the book historical as well as horticultural appeal. And the detailed discussions of medicinal and culinary herbs are of particular interest today.