Gathering Moss

A wonderful book full of insights into the lesser-known world of bryology, expressed in captivating, passionate and sometimes heart-breaking anecdotes.

I found Robin’s writings as a Native American and indigenous teacher incredibly interesting - she writes about the Native American relationship with plants and nature, and her research into the roles mosses have played in Native American life.

This book also made me buy a hand lens and spend a significant amount of time invading the personal life of my plants and their inhabitants.

This book was ok but for me there was not enough in depth look at the science of the mosses and their environment also I started to feel that this book was outdated as it was written 20+ years ago now. I especially got this sense when there was a chapter about the Amazon rainforest but no mention of Temperate Rainforests that are equally or more rich in mosses (See The Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole) I got frustrated by the slamming of people that live in cities and the sense that there is no nature there; there is if you look and nurture it. I was also frustrated by the chapters that mentioned the past practices of gardening (usage of Peat Compost and moss linings to hanging baskets) but gave the reader no alternatives for what should be used instead just stated that these were bad things. On the whole some photographs may have helped to visualise the mosses being described and a little less memoir writing as I found it a bit off putting and meant I would forget any facts I had just read. Also some of the sorts of experiments felt a bit off too as I kept mentally shouting stop pulling up clumps of moss