Author: Chu, Jeff

Published by Penguin Random House, LLC, 2025

This is a different kind of garden book. There’s no big dramatic epiphany while having a moment planting seeds or pulling up carrots. There’s no lecture on the cycle of life while composting vegetables. The book is about a man in his 30s who decided to change his life path by enrolling in seminary school and joining the Farminary Project at Princeton Seminary School.

There is a lot of ruminating as one would when faced with major life changes. And Chu’s personal life is loaded: a gay man with Chinese parents that don’t accept his homosexuality or his relationship to his beloved partner, as well as having a lifelong pursuit in understanding spirituality. Another layer of this is his relationship with his fellow student farmers and his previous relationships. His relationship with animals is also a part of this.

The farm is always in the background. “Good Soil” is divided by the seasons beginning with autumn and the ending of the growing season but the beginning of the school year. Students at the Farminary learn basic farming from understanding the use of tools to raising animals and dressing them. Chu becomes a bigger part of the farm, having the responsibility to manage the farm when the farm manager goes out of state for a home visit for several weeks. In a suitable way, the farm slowly becomes a big part of Chu but without a loud announcement.

And it is in this quiet layering of storytelling that the “Good Soil” becomes something more than an autobiography but a philosophizing and rumination and insights into spirituality that was greatly appreciated by the reader. There was so much for me to identify and reflect from his difficult relationship with his parents, to his relationship with his Chinese culture. And also the ever present need to relate to those around you but never feeling like you ever do.

In his course finale, Chu creates dishes with everything grown on the Farminary including the chicken. He explains his dishes and their meaning behind them as it relates to his culture and his life events. This was a beautiful moment not only in his courses but in his life as well.

“Good Soil” should be added to your list of garden books because not all garden books should be about how-to, or what you’ved observed, but also a reminder for spiritual maintenance.