- By Andrée Levie - Warrilow for Grey County Master Gardeners
Spring is on the way! ….erm, eventually. This time of year is somewhat emotionally fraught for local gardeners. Astronomically speaking, the “first day of spring” is marked by the spring equinox, which falls on March 20 this year. Alas, a number on the calendar usually means little to those of us in Grey county staring out the window on a blustery late March morning.
With the firm belief that you can never read too many books, here are a few more titles
of works by a variety of writers to tide you through these last remaining weeks before we can let loose in the garden.
These books explore connections between us and the plant world that might surprise you. Scientific inquiry meets up with a shift in ethics re the environment in a few of them, and are worth considering how we might change our goals and expectations to ensure a future for other species - as well as our own.
All will leave you thinking - and knowing more - and knowledge, as they say, is power.
Finding the Mother Tree - Dr. Suzanne Simard 2021
Suzanne Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia who has dedicated her life to better understanding the forest and the network that connects the plant life within.
I found her writing style, while filled with scientific commentary, contained humour and emotion. Dr. Simard, as both a scientist and a great story teller, carries the narrative forward in such a way that never feels lecturing, but more friendly conversation, as she leads this journey of scientific discovery. Linking her research to her personal experiences, she recounts her life's work uncovering the "Wood Wide Web," the underground mycelium network that connects all the trees and plants within a forest. It is a network that allows them to share not only nutrients, but information, all of which originates from the hubs called ‘Mother Trees’. This book is fascinating.
The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines - Dr. Cassandra Quave 2021
This book is a real page-turner. Dr Quave’s life story is fascinating; from her early struggles with birth defects that left her with a curved spine and one leg - neither of which deterred her from journeying to find healers from all over the world. She relates the challenges of lack of funding and the threat of disappearing environments and potentially vital plants. She doesn't pull any punches re how time is running out re modern diseases’ growing resistance to conventional antibiotics. Dr. Quave underlines the serious loss of potentially important medical information as native healers die before passing on their knowledge.
Follow this acclaimed medical ethnobotanist on her quest to develop new ways from old ways to fight illness and disease through the healing powers of plants in this uplifting and adventure-filled memoir, while she also candidly reflects on the barriers that still exist for female scientists and independent researchers.
A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for An Uncertain Future - Benjamin Vogt 2017
“As human-made climate change and mass extinction impacts the world's ability to function, we will be called upon to garden the planet more actively. Native plants in home, business, and public landscapes will play a critical role in helping us know and appreciate wildness, while waking us to global wildlife stewardship and cultivating equality among ourselves."
That pretty much sums this book up.This is no guide book for beginner gardeners, but a philosophical look at our role in shaping the present environment, and what we must do if we are to save it and ourselves. Vogt discusses how in a time of climate change and mass extinction, who we garden for matters more than ever.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Wisdom of Plants - Robin Wall Kimmer 2013
As a leading researcher in the field of biology, Robin Wall Kimmerer understands the delicate state of our world. She is also a member of the Potawatomi nation. This memoir follows her as she intertwines these two modes of awareness--the analytic and the emotional, the scientific and the cultural. It’s full of scientific data, yet it reads like poetry. Thoughtful and insightful, Braiding Sweetgrass is a complex and multi-layered book, but if you are game to read a book that will challenge you to see your connection with and responsibility toward other inhabitants of our planet differently, a book you will not soon forget.
Soil Science for Gardeners - Working with Nature to Build Soil Health - Robert Pavlis 2020
Robert Pavlis, a Master Gardener and chemist specialising in soil science, is a garden blogger and former instructor for Landscape Ontario, with over four decades of gardening experience developing Aspen Grove Gardens in Guelph. In Soil Science he has written a clear, easy to read science-based guide to understanding soil fertility, particularly the rhizosphere - the thin layer of soil and liquid surrounding plant roots. Learn about common myths regarding soil biology, common soil problems, and how you can create optimal conditions for building healthy soil and growing thriving plants in your own garden, letting nature do the heavy lifting.
All these books are available at the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library.
If you have any gardening questions please contact Grey County Master Gardeners at:
https://www.greycountymastergardeners.com/