Reviews

May 4, 2009

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Untitled (A Darker Side to Gardening)

Over the weekend, I decided to read Jamaica Kincaid’s “The Autobiography of My Mother” for the second time. Opening the first page, I notice a note scrawled into the top right hand corner in my own handwriting, “pg 143.”

Turning to page 143 I find the following passage underlined:

“He had an obsessive interest in rearranging the landscape: not gardening in the way of necessity, the growing of food, but gardening in the way of luxury, the growing of flowering plants for no reason than the pleasure of it and making these plants do exactly what he wanted them to do; and it made great sense that he would be drawn to this activity, for it is an act of conquest, benign though it may be.”

I’ve noticed this thread in a few of her books: gardening as conquest and a subtle form of colonization, and the way that colonization has affected gardening around the world. Jamaica Kincaid is a passionate gardener who understands the pleasures and joys we gardeners experience in the act of tending plants. But I really appreciate that she is also able to see beyond that and is willing to go into territory many of us would prefer not to talk about.

Another book by Jamaica Kincaid, “My Garden (Book):” was the first book of hers that I bought, although it was not the first that I read, and sat on a shelf for years. I know I skimmed it when I first brought it home; I found a bookmark tucked partway in when I finally picked it up again. It’s just that I have absolutely no recollection of what I read nor how I felt about it at the time. For as long as I can remember I have always been a voracious reader. But I can’t be forced to read a book before I am ready for it. Whenever I try to read a book that I can’t get into I find myself repeating the same lines over and over again, never getting past the third page. This doesn’t say anything about the book itself since I’ve gone back to, and devoured many books that seemed impossible to get through the first time. I must not have been ready for this book back then. But when I did pick it up again within the last year, having become a fan of her writing in the years in between, WOW. What a book! Ms. Kincaid approaches the topic of gardening, and more specifically her own garden with passion, sharp humour, playfulness, love, and biting, difficult observations. Many of you will see yourself (as I saw myself) in the 8th essay, “An Order to a Fruit Nursery Through the Mail.”

But the essay I was reminded of when I found the passage I had long ago underlined in “The Autobiography of My Mother” is the one I want to mention today. It’s called “To Name Is to Possess” and is all about the dynamic between the conquered and the conqueror and the effect it has had on gardening throughout history leading to, and still in effect to varying degrees today. She describes the way that the names of plants have been changed over the years, most especially from the names given to them by the original inhabitants of those lands, and how they have been transcribed to our current botanical naming system (the one we see with authority). She goes on to explain that she does not know the names of plants that are native to her birthplace (Antigua) and explains why.

“The ignorance of the botany of the place I am from (and am of) really only reflects the fact that when I lived there, I was of the conquered class and living in a conquered place; a principle of the condition is that nothing about you is of any interest unless the conqueror deems it so.“

She goes on to describe a local botanical garden that did not include any plants that were native to Antigua but instead filled with plants from various parts of the British Empire including a tree from Malaysia. At the end of the paragraph she concludes:

“The botanical garden reinforced for me how powerful were the people who had conquered me; they could bring to me the botany of the world they owned. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that in Malaysia (or somewhere) was a botanical garden with no plants native to that place.“

These passages make me wonder about a lot of things. They make me think about how deeply rooted in the past gardening continues to be even today. About how much we continue to value gardening as luxury above gardening as necessity, although that is changing, at least for the time being as we sink into an economic downturn. Will we turn back to placing a higher value on luxury if and when the economy changes? They make me think about my own prejudices and perspectives when it comes to how I see gardens and individual plants; how much those perspectives are still entrenched in a past before I was born, and how much of that I have had to purposefully and consciously push aside in order to not only have my own perspectives but value and validate them for myself.

About a week ago I tried to articulate over dinner that slowly over the years, in the back of my mind I have been working through thoughts about gardening as a culture that exists within a much larger and complicated social world and how I am trying to figure out how to talk about my personal experiences of that culture in relation to class and race (and of course where I lie within that spectrum with my own complicated background as a person of mixed ethnicity who was raised within a particular class and who has had my own unique set of experiences just as everyone else has had theirs). These topics are risky and I find myself afraid to even begin to put the words together let alone say them out loud. Although I am trying. However jumbled and obtuse they might seem.

I wish I had more to say or some kind of conclusion to make but really I am just thinking out loud. Near the end of the essay Ms. Kincaid goes on to say that when she looks out at her own garden she can see that she has joined the conquering class, and that her feet are in two worlds. I’ve yet to come to a conclusion about all of this except to say that on a personal level throughout my life my feet have always been in many different places (more than two at all times), and it feels like it might take me a lifetime (I hope not) to finally figure out how to articulate my exact position/location/direction within that.

And that seems to hold especially true when it comes to my perspectives on gardening and my place within that world.

What about you?

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April 21, 2009

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Fiskars Telescoping 12-Foot Tree Pruner

Fiskars, makers of the famous orange-handled crafting scissors and assorted gardening pruners, among other things (turns out they make boats too. o-kay), recently sent me their Power Stroke Telescoping Pruning Stik 12-Foot Tree Pruner as a solution to a problem we’ve been having at the community garden with weed trees taking over and throwing shade onto what were previously sunny plots, mine included.

I just need to hold for a moment here to say, Ummm… Power Stroke? Really? They make it too easy.

Back to the garden. Over the years, we’ve tried managing the problem with shorter tree loppers, even going so far as to send my brother up into the trees to cut some branches out. The trouble is that getting up into the trees to get at the tall growth at the top is becoming increasingly difficult, if not dangerous. We don’t have a tall ladder, and even if we did how would we transport it from our home to the garden short of marching through the neighborhood with it strapped to our backs? Completely impractical, if not a little bit strange.

This is where the pruners come in. As an urban gardener I find that I can generally get away with owning only a small handful of tools, so it came as a surprise to discover that I actually NEEDED a gigantic tool like this one. They’re looooong — 12 feet in fact and an ample length required to reach the offending branches.

We took it over to the community garden the other day to get a head start on pruning early in the season before the leaves fill up the trees and while we can still see what we’re doing. We used the standard pruner attachment and were able to easily and smoothly remove branches just over an inch in diameter. I have never used another tree pruning tool so I’ve got nothing to compare with, but it was easy enough, and I’m not particularly muscular these days having spent long hours over the winter months sitting on my butt staring at a screen and pushing a mouse. My spouse found it to be incredibly easy, possibly even too easy, since I had to take the thing away to keep him from going nuts removing every branch on every tree! It’s surprisingly light for such a massive tool (the website says it weighs only 5 pounds) and is simple to manipulate even when fully extended. Weight is important since we are not only concerned about pulling a muscle during use but potentially losing control and accidentally touching one of many nearby electrical wires. So far this has not been a concern, although I would avoid doing this kind of work on a windy day. It has a rotating head that allows you to get into difficult spots and cut on appropriate angles, which was something we weren’t too concerned about since we were pruning weed trees, not the family cherry tree.

We weren’t able to cut all of the branches we needed to remove with the pruning attachment, but this thing also came with a large saw attachment that is used for cutting branches thicker than 1 1/4″. We haven’t had a chance to try it out yet but will be back at the garden next week to finish the job. I’m not worried about whether it can handle the remaining thicker branches, that thing has got bite. In fact I’m rather afraid of the saw attachment on its own, even while still in the package! Stick it on the end of a sturdy, 12-foot pole and I’ve no doubt that it could cut through a small arm. Which is why I intend to keep my arms and all other appendages over at the opposite end of the garden when anyone but myself is wielding it!

Photo by Gayla Trail All Rights Reserved
Bonus: Doubles as a terrifying Freddy Kruger/Edward Scissorhands Halloween costume arm.

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December 29, 2008

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Book: A Tale of 12 Kitchens by Jake Tilson

I bought “A Tale of 12 Kitchens” by artist and designer Jake Tilson just over a year ago and have been trying to find a reason to write about it on the site ever since. The book isn’t particularly about gardening or cooking from garden fresh food, although it does have brief sections describing the author’s family food gardens and a section about homegrown herbs that I will describe later. Regardless, I’ve given up looking for a valid reason and have decided it fits, however loosely.

I initially bought the book to take with me on a train trip to Montreal. At the time this cookbook meets travelogue was the perfect accompaniment to a colourful Fall journey. I particularly love traveling by train and the ride between Toronto and Montreal is my ideal. It’s long enough to really dive into a book or spend ample time daydreaming through the window at beautiful passing landscapes but not so long that you can smell the scent of hell’s inner depths wafting from the toilets every time the door is opened, or that your knees start to ache forcing you into awkward positions in an attempt to get some relief and reminding you that you are old and could drop down dead at any minute. That’s what it was like that time we thought it might be fun and “productive” (I’ll read two books and finally finish that knit hat and by arrival I will have conquered the world!!) to take a 12 hour train trip to New York City. Or was it 14 hours? Or was it forever? Maybe I’m still on that train. Never. Again. So help me god. But the trip to Montreal is perfection. It has this way of deluding me into believing that train travel is the only way to go anywhere, period. I’d go once a season if I could afford it. Come to think of it, three seasons; I’ll skip winter. There’s a reason why I live in Toronto rather than beautiful Montreal, home of the brutal 1998 ice storm.

When I opened the book to take pictures I was surprised to find leaves I had collected on Montreal’s mountain and tucked into the pages for safe keeping.

In my travel experiences food is always tied into the delight and adventure of discovering new sights and smells. Whenever I think about the places I have been I can’t help but think about the food I ate. I can often remember exactly what I ate and where I ate it. Cooking and eating, like gardening, happens within context and always comes with a story. I like to look at cookbooks but for the most part I only like the ones that say more than, “Make this dish. Here’s how.” One of the reasons I love this book is because Jake Tilson has managed to combine a cookbook with a travelogue in a way that is both instructional and inspirational. I feel like I am reading a story or am invited along for the journey and I can experience the book on that level without ever making the recipes. In fact, I have had this book for over a year and have bought two additional copies for friends but had not made a single recipe until just a few weeks ago. It’s like two books in one!

We tried the pancakes on page 104 and they turned out to be the best pancakes we have ever made, hands down. His idea to whip the egg whites first made “cakes” that were amazingly light and fluffy, especially since we used spelt flour, which often turns out flatter “cakes” in my experience. We ate the pancakes with black currant jam.

How we eat and what we eat, especially while traveling is wrapped up inside all kinds of interesting packaging both literally and figuratively. One of my absolute favourite things to do when I visit any new place is go to both the local markets and the larger commercial supermarkets if they have one. I love to see what people eat, how they buy it, and how it is packaged. I often bring back cans of completely average products or candies and wrappers that are completely different than anything I have seen at home. As a graphic designer Tilson has a love for food packaging and has filled the book with labels and photos of food purchased around the world. Each page is a visual treat with all kinds of cookbook covers, shopping bags and packages I have never seen before.

One of my favourite pages in the book (choosing one is no small feat) shows fresh herb packages that he designs and sends to friends from their family home in Tuscany. All of the herbs including bay leaves, juniper berries and fennel flowers are harvest on the property. Yum! I also give away some of my freshly grown herbs and do package them up, and while I have designed packages for pickles and tea sets I have never done so for the herbs. Looking at the book again has inspired me to go that extra mile with next year’s herb.

I can hardly wait.

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December 15, 2008

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Handmade Gifts for Gardeners

I didn’t intend to write another post about Holiday gifts this season but I realized that when I wrote the first post I left out the handmade items I found in my search. There’s some really great stuff there and it just seems like a waste not to mention them so here I go:

Please note that items are listed in U.S prices.

1. Notes to Grow On – $25.00 A set of 7 letterpress cards depicting reproduction herb prints. Each card includes a packet of herb seeds attached to the back. Really beautiful.

2. Dandelion Coaster – $6.00 This company makes a bunch of botanically-inspired coasters but I have a special affinity for dandelions.

3. Reusable Vegetable Bags – $20.00 A set of 3 reusable, washable vegetable bags that you can take grocery shopping or out to the garden to collect your harvest. Made from a lightweight but sturdy fabric that won’t affect the scale at the grocery store.

4. Black Fall Flowers Long Sleeve Shirt – $25.00 A silk screened shirt depicting what looks to be tansy or Queen Anne’s Lace.

5. Plantable Wine Bottle Tags – $2.50 A nice way to give a bottle of wine, although I’m sure you could attach one of these to just about anything. They make full-size cards as well.

6. Tiny Budding Leaf Earrings – $60.00 I LOVE Abigail Percy’s botanical jewelry so much… I wrote about her Flower Silhouette Necklaces a while back. These bud earrings are equally beautiful.

7. Dig It Pendant – $10.00 A vintage 1930′s garden book illustration sealed between glass using lead-free solder. Comes equipped with a chain for wearing.

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December 8, 2008

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Holiday Gifts for Gardeners 2008

Please note that items are listed in U.S prices.

1. Botanicalls DIY Plant Twitter Kit – $99.00 How many of us really need this? I don’t really need this. I know when to water my plants. All I have to do is, you know, check them… With my eyes and hands. But the geek in me desperately wants this and that’s why I have listed it first even though I typically list the crazy, ridiculous items last. Place the leads in your plant’s pot and this little D.I.Y doohickey sends updates to a Twitter account on your plant’s status, reminding you when it needs water or has been given too much. The kit comes in pieces — you’ll have to put it together yourself, but for people like me who only passed high school computer science because I could build a working circuit (and those who passed because they could build a working circuit AND actually write and understand BASIC) that’s nearly the best part!

2. Plantable Seed Calendar – $24.95 Here’s a pretty little botanically inspired desk calendar that has a life beyond 2009. Each month is impregnated with wildflower seeds that can be planted when the year is out. I also like that the plants are listed since the word “wildflower” is so grossly overused — what’s wild in one region can be horribly invasive in another. Most plantable products become a bit of a guessing game, which could be fun, almost like a botanical surprise pack, if not for the unfortunate surprise that can come once the seeds have sprouted.

3. Metal Word Herb Markers – $22.50 These herbal plant markers are simple, understated and very tastefully done. FINALLY!

4. The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control – $14.93 I always try to add at least one book to the list and this year I wanted to include something that gardeners of any skill and experience level can use and appreciate. This book is it. I’ve recommended this book countless times over the years because it is the one book on my own shelf that I have turned to most. Pests and diseases are the great leveler — all gardeners, regardless of skill level succumb to them now and again. I consider this book the bible, the go-to book whenever I need to identify an unknown pest or problem or get a good idea of the environmental impact of a particular spray or remedy. And at nearly 600 pages, this book doesn’t miss much.

5. Grobal Self-watering Pot – $12.95 Now here’s something that the forgetful gardener can really use. They remind me of the 80s era self-watering planters made by Tupperware, only a heck of a lot nicer. Finally, a pot that is aesthetically pleasing, reasonably priced, and actually useful! Definitely go for the larger pot, the baby version is too small for most houseplants.

6. USB Greenhouse – $19.99 Here’s a gift for gardeners doing the 9-5 in front of a computer in a dark and lifeless office cubicle. It looks like the small size could be a barrier to growing anything substantial although it might work for seedlings, or perhaps some leafy greens and microgreens to supplement the boxed lunch. I can’t vouch for the environmental impact of this product since it is running on electricity, but perhaps it makes up for that just a little bit by increasing mental health.

7. Flasher Planter – $110 Another item on the pricey side but worth mentioning if someone out there can afford it. I recently suggested this item when Canadian Gardening magazine asked me what I’d like to receive for the Holidays this year. It was a bit of wishful thinking, really, since there is no hope in hell that this will be coming my way anytime soon but still, hilarious isn’t it? And completely appealing to my great love for dioramas.

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