In Russia, the name of Nikolay Kurdyumov is known to every Anastasia reader.

After millions of people discovered Anastasia's messages concerning plants, Nature, and gardening, their attention turned to Kurdyumov's amazing Gardening with a Smile series – which masterfully weaves personal growth with growing fruit and vegetables!

The very best gardening book

“At the Ringing Cedars workshops around the globe, readers kept asking me if there was a gardening book I could recommend.

“I had to tell them that the very best book – Growing Vegetables with a Smile – was not yet available in English!

“And so, my next translating task was carved out for me! ” says Ringing Cedars Series editor Dr. Leo Sharashkin.

Five “Anastasias” in one!

Translating Growing Vegetable with a Smile required of Dr. Leo and the translation team five times more effort than translating Anastasia!

This is because in Kurdyumov, we meet another great author who can be scientifically precise, immensely practical, deeply inspiring, metaphysical, and funny all at the same time!

His love for plants touches your heart, the breakthrough insights he presents wow your mind, and you keep laughing all along at his witty, self-effacing humor!

And, like any great author, Kurdyumov is beyond the conventional limitations of any particular genre: his Growing Vegetables with a Smile could actually deeply influence your entire world outlook.

A Classic in Spiritual Permaculture

Kurdyumov takes gardening to a whole new level of awareness and enjoyment. Anastasia once said that ‘growing children means growing yourself.’

For Kurdyumov, ‘growing a garden means growing yourself’ – and he makes it accessible to all. It is a classic in spiritual permaculture.

“It means that if your carrots are not doing well, the answer lies in you – not the carrots, bad weather, or tired soil.” explains Dr. Leo.
The ultimate source of inspiration and practical advice

“We are all looking for simple ways to successfully put Anastasia's advice into practice. As far as gardening is concerned, Kurdyumov's book is the ultimate source of inspiration and practical advice. There is no way Anastasia could cover all important aspects of self-sufficient gardening – if only because Vladimir was most interested in other things!

“This is what makes Growing Vegetables with a Smile such an important complement to Anastasia's every key message regarding plants and Nature.

“For instance, she talked about how nature creates fertility without fertilizers – and Kurdyumov explains in great detail just how this process works and, importantly, how you can apply it in your garden.

“Anastasia talked about the importance of weeds – and Kurdyumov shows how you can put weeds and even pests (!) to the most beneficial use in your garden.

“Anastasia inspired us to relate to every seed as a living being – and Kurdyumov expands this awareness to include every aspect of life in the soil.”

Witness the information-wrapping techniques used at The School !

Growing Vegetables with a Smile is a must-read for every Anastasia reader for yet another reason:

A professional agronomist with unique insights into organic gardening and with rare teaching talents, in the mid-1990's Kurdyumov became a co-creator of The School – the model school of the future founded by Mikhail Schetinin and dramatically described in The Space of Love

Schetinin challenged Kurdyumov to develop a way to deliver the whole high-school biology program to children in 3 days!

Kurdyumov accepted the challenge and became one of Schetinin's closest collaborators in the creation of his amazing school.

In Growing Vegetables with a Smile, Kurdyumov makes extensive use of many integrative learning techniques now at work at The School, packing each sentence with both information and emotion.

You will emerge from reading this book feeling like you've playfully covered several university-level agronomy courses, and chances are your understanding of plants and soil will be deeper than what any university graduate can boast!