This is a short, profound, and deeply spiritual little book which would make the perfect Christmas gift for any loved one who enjoys the beauties of the natural world. The author's Hungarian uncle arrived in America with an abiding belief that "the land was a living being, one with its own hopes and needs and dreams." After a large portion of woodlands is torn down to make way for a highway, this uncle burns the land near the road and then leaves the ground fallow but unseeded. He tells Clarissa the story of a little fir tree and its journey through Christmas. The Faithful Gardener is a grace-infused parable about God's garden, nature's bounties, and the joys of loving seeds, trees, and the good earth.