66 Square Feet: Book Review and Giveaway

What began as long emails home to her mother far away in South Africa, grew into blog which Marie Viljoen named 66 Square Feet, after carefully measuring the length and width of her tiny terrace garden in Brooklyn, New York. In turn the blog, which opened this tiny green space to the wide world of the internet, blossomed into the book 66 Square Feet: A Delicious Life.

A delicious life! Three little words that suggest so much: good food for sure, but much more than that: an attitude, a lifestyle, a way of savouring life's simple pleasures.

Could there be anything more delicious than a meal of fresh, seasonal ingredients served outdoors, as often as weather permits, on pretty floral plates along with a good bottle of wine and bouquet of just-picked-flowers? 

Photograph from the book 66 Square Feet- A Delicious Life by Marie Viljoen © Marie Viljoen 2013

Photograph from the book 66 Square Feet- A Delicious Life by Marie Viljoen © Marie Viljoen 2013

Although I am sure it is not, Marie Viljoen's writing feels effortless; as casual and comfortable as the clothes you slip into after a long day at work.

Starting in January, each chapter in the book is devoted to a particular month in the year and what's growing on Marie's terrace and rooftop gardens. The chapters link the meals Marie prepares with food she's either grown herself that month, found at local farmer's markets or made from ingredients foraged in local parks and green spaces.

The book touches only briefly on the subject of foraging, but I was curious to know more. 

In an email, Marie explained to me that "...Tipsy Titoti, my mother's housekeeper, who was like a second mother to me, would gather edible weeds in the garden to make morogo- a green weed stew, as comfort food for herself...So I became aware that 'weeds' are plants with another use...food."

"In New York it was a friend visiting from South Africa who brought me a bowlful of red berries she gathered under the Brooklyn Bridge and said, What are these?- who introduced me to serviceberries, Amelanchier sp. Suddenly I started seeing the city with new eyes. For instance, I can't wait for March-beacuse to me March means Japanese knotweed shoots can be found growing in a huge park in the Bronx."

I must say that I had to chuckle a little when I read Marie's description of Japanese knotweed shoots as having "a lemony creaminess reminiscent of sorrel". For me, knotweed has been a terrible and invasive weed I have struggled endlessly to eliminate from the back of my garden. Japanese knotweed has deep tap roots and a root ball the size of a car battery. I have even seen it take over an entire property.

Who knew that you could eat the damned stuff? Think of it. It is the gardener's ultimate revenge: eating fresh shoots of a weed that has been making you crazy for years!

Photograph from the book 66 Square Feet- A Delicious Life by Marie Viljoen © Marie Viljoen 2013

In the countryside, I think there is a natural tendency to take nature a little bit for granted. It's all around you after all. 

But in a big city like New York, moments of natural beauty like the red rose clamouring up the side this grey brick store front are rarer and perhaps are all the more precious for it.

Space to garden is at the premium, forcing the gardener to be even more creative and resourceful. It is amazing to realize how much you can squeeze onto a small terrace! 

Photograph from the book 66 Square Feet- A Delicious Life by Marie Viljoen © Marie Viljoen 2013

The book contains 92 recipes which are scattered throughout the months in a year. 

Some are as easy as a boiled egg served with chives snipped from the spring garden. But even in these everyday recipes, there is always a simple gem of an idea such as adding buttermilk to mashed potatoes. 

Photograph from the book 66 Square Feet- A Delicious Life by Marie Viljoen © Marie Viljoen 2013

Photograph from the book 66 Square Feet- A Delicious Life by Marie Viljoen © Marie Viljoen 2013

It was such a pleasure read Marie's recipe notes. I can just imagine the "perfume of local strawberries" mixed with a rich, shortcrust pastry "heavy on butter, very light in texture, crisp and delicate" that reclines "on a pillow of whipped cream or Greek yogurt."

I end by asking you: Could there be any happier ambition than endeavouring to lead a delicious life? 

If you would like to be included a draw for the copy of  66 Square Feet: A Delicious Life, please leave a comment below. I am going to leave the contest open throughout the holidays to give as many people as possible a chance to enter. The draw's closing date will be January 5th, 2014 . Overseas bloggers are welcome to enter. The draw and winning announcement will be made early in the new year. Good luck everyone!

To purchase a copy of 66 Square Feet: A Delicious Life please see the links below.

To read reviews of other gardening books, be sure to click this link to Holley's blog: Roses and other Gardening Joys.

More Information and Links:

Author Marie Viljoen (Profile photograph by Vincent Mounier) was born in was born in the small city of Bloemfontein and spent her early years in Cape Town, South Africa. Presently Marie resides in Harlem with her French husband and a Dominican cat.

Vist her blog: 66 Square Feet

Find the book 66 Square Feet: A Delicious Life on Amazon or at your local independent bookstore. In Canada, the book can be purchased online at Chapter.indigo