Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate: Where Meditation Meets the Garden Gate

More than a gardening manual, Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate is a lyrical journey into the living relationship between people, soil, and spirit. Wendy Johnson, drawing on 30+ years of tending Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in California, blends Buddhist philosophy with grounded horticultural practice. Whether you’re harvesting kale or contemplating paradox, this book shows how cultivating a garden also cultivates the gardener.

Why It’s Tough Enough for Tough Kraut
• Practical Wisdom in the Soil: Expect composting advice, planting strategies, and crop notes from a gardener who’s worked her fields for decades.
• Philosophy Woven with Practice: Johnson bridges Zen meditation and hands-on farming, giving equal weight to inner growth and outer harvest.
• Influential Roots: Though often shelved as “Buddhist literature,” the book deeply shaped early permaculture practitioners and land stewards.
• Poetic & Grounded: Exquisite prose carries you through stories of Green Gulch, where dragon-shaped hills meet rows of kale and orchards.

Proven Finishing Touches
• Highly Rated: Amazon readers give it 4.8 out of 5 stars, calling it both soulful and useful. Goodreads holds a solid 4.2.
• Loved by Gardeners & Seekers: Reviewers note its rare ability to feed both the soil and the soul.
• Enduring Classic: Published in 2008 yet still praised as essential American nature writing.

Why We Love It
At Tough Kraut, we value books that go beyond “how-to” and remind us why-to. This one is both a meditation and a manual, urging us to see weeds, compost piles, and even failures as teachers. It fits perfectly into the homesteader’s life where growing food is never just about calories, but about cultivating resilience, patience, and joy in the work.

Get Yours Now
Ready to garden with both hands and heart? Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate is available from Amazon at the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany.

Specifications
• Author: Wendy Johnson
• Publisher / Year: Bantam, 2008
• Page Count: 464
• ISBN: 978-0553378030
• Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook available