Dear 02568 – It's nice to read comments such as the ones you write. I so appreciate your thoughtful comments most every week. I will go check Noel's site and see what he said, but I can tell that we all feel the same way about contemporary culture. If only I posted all of my rants about this ( one written this week, but it's too long to post and I fear others will feel that I am too negative). 'Breezy' is OK, I suppose, as long as there are those tomes written with some depth, but I fear the balance has shifted given he popularity of 'lifestyle gardening'. I hold out some hope that as what happened in cooking, that books will evolve in both directions. I promise that if I ever write a book, it will like that of a chef, and not of a celebrity chef (which is funny, since when I pitched my book to Timber Press ten years ago, I pitched it in this way: Imagine "the French Laundry' for serious gardeners – the audience may never actually make head cheese with a calves head and pigs feet, but they will want to read about it and imagine that the could!"). Maybe now, we are ready for such a gardening book? Wishing you a healthy and vibrant new year!

Could one use a thimble to protect their finger?

HI LInus. It's Binh An Market on Green St. in Worcester.