The Garden of Fertility: A Guide to Charting Your Fertility Signals to Prevent or Achieve Pregnancy- Naturally-and to Gauge Your Reproduction Health

The best book on Women's Health I've ever read. Read it if you are about to get your period for the first time. Read it if you want to understand what is going on in your body every month. Read it if you are irregular, if you have thyroid problems, if you have diet issues. Read it if you are in a sexual relationship. Read it if you don't want to get pregnant and don't want to be on the pill or get an IUD. Read it if you want to get pregnant. Read it if your expecting. Read it if you are lactating. Read it if you are going through menopause. Even if you believe yourself to be health savvy and well informed It will answer questions you didn't even know you had about your own body.

I am a midwifery student and I love reading books about fertility and natural family planning. Katie Singer's book is the most comprehensive one I have read so far. Although I would tell conservative Christian readers to order "Honoring Our Cycles" instead, this one has tons of super helpful information. The fertility charting is presented in a simple easy to follow and understand way. I prefer this book over "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" because it is more holistic and offers advice about how to help balance your hormones with nutrition. I also like how this book has resources for finding other information regarding fertility, contraception, and health.

This book is very enlightening. I learned so much about my body! I could not put it down and ended up reading the entire thing in one day. I really feel like my perspective on womanhood and true health has been changed. I have reproductive health problems and this book was such an encouragement. I no longer feel overwhelmed and confused about my body and my health problems. I feel knowledgeable and in control of my health. Every single girl/teenager/woman should read this book. I think it should become a standard in health classes when girls are learning about their body/puberty/periods/fertility/sex/birth-control/etc.

Very informative. I like all the detail and experiences, it makes it a lot easier to understand and compare. I have yet to try it out because I'm breast feeding and do not have a cycle to base anything on. But I love all the information!

excellent and complete information for women to (re)connect with themselves, understand the miraculous functioning of our female body, assist its processes, guide our body to get where we want (pregant or not) and free ourselves from chemical drugs (contraceptive pill etc) - I recommend it to every woman!

Good points: While its coverage of fertility awareness is somewhat perfunctory compared to the other major books on the subject (by Toni Weschler and the Kippleys), it explains it in a new way. I particularly liked her comparison of vaginal sensation to sensation inside your nose - you can tell whether your nose is wet or dry just by paying attention to it, with no need to stick a finger in there. The same is possible with the vulva.Singer takes fertility awareness beyond birth control or pregnancy acheivement. She gives examples and tools for readers to use the awareness aspect of FA to become aware of many other aspects of their lives, including both physical and psychological health. I found the presentation and explanation of Susan Weed's Six Steps of Healing particularly inspiring.This is also the best presentation of fertility during breastfeeding that I have read (others I have read are "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" and "The Art of Natural Family Planning"). Though I have heard good things about "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing" and it might be technically better, many might be turned off by its religious content.Bad points: Singer mixes up theories for which there is strong scientific evidence and growing support (such as the dangers of phthalates), theories that have weak or no support in the scientific community (bras cause cancer), and statements that are outright false (pre-ejaculate contains viable sperm - the only three studies ever done found no such thing).She mixes up sound nutritional advice (excess refined flour and sugar is unhealthy) with false nutritional advice (plant oils, which contain high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fats, she says are unhealthy. She also says that no historical human community has long, healthy life with low levels of animal fats - ignoring the entire Meditteranean region.) and with advice that just doesn't make any sense (to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in cod liver oil - remember, oil is a fat - she says you have to take it with butter.)Some of her advice is just out-of-date. It was published before many of the studies exploring the huge number of benefits to including moderate amounts of tea, coffee, and chocolate (especially dark chocolate). She advices to completely avoid all these substances. She also goes on at length about how low temperatures are a definite sign of all sorts of problems - while a recent mouse study found that mice with lower temperatures live significantly longer than mice with "normal" temperatures.She integrates Chinese medicine theories throughout the book. To me, this was worse than the religious theories in "The Art of NFP", because those are easily identifiable as dogma. The Chinese medicine in this book is presented as scientific fact, when its theories have actually never been tested in clinical trials.I'm giving it three stars because its good points are pretty strong. But I would never recommend this book as a stand-alone reference for any of the subjects it covers, only as a supplement.

I am extremely happy with this book and feel like I have such an advantage from learning everything I did. Being aware of and in-tune to your body isn't something you're born with, I believe we have to train ourselves. I think its a great tool for all women--young & old!

Wouldn’t recommend - Toni’s book has all the info you need. This book claims to be a companion, but it’s really just a one time read, not worth buying for your shelf.

This was an informative book and could teach someone how to track their menstrual cycles, but i prefer Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. All a matter of preference

Very informative and clear bookWritten beautifullyGood chart examples and stories of women's experiencesI would recommend this to every woman, but especially midwives as it has helped me with my current training and understanding of how our bodies work.This book makes you more aware of yourself, more empowered and you value your body more

Excellent - so informative worth a read! Especially if your TTC, makes you think if those predictor sticks are truly accurate. Can't believe this is not taught at school - will definitely pass on the info to others regardless of TTC.

great book for women trying to connect with theirselves, their body and with FAM.had read katie singer's "honouring our cycles". Loved both.