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market-farming - Agriculture bibliography Part 29

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflondon AT mindspring.com>
  • To: market-farming
  • Subject: Agriculture bibliography Part 29
  • Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 01:16:37 -0500




***************************************************
Nature's Services : Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems
by Gretchen C. Daily (Editor), Joshua S. Reichert Our Price: $24.95
Usually
ships
in 2-3 days Paperback - (February 1997) 416 pages
Reviews: Nature's Services brings together world-renowned scientists
from a
variety
of disciplines to examine the character and value of ecosystem
services, the
damage
that has been done to them, and the consequent implications for human
society.
Contributors present a detailed synthesis of our current understanding
of a
suite of
ecosystem services and a preliminary assessment of their economic
value.
Nature's
Services represents one of the first efforts by scientists to provide
an
overview of
the many benefits and services that nature offers to people and the
extent to
which
we are all vitally dependent on those services. The book enhances our
understanding
of the value of the natural systems that surround us and can play an
essential
role
in encouraging greater efforts to protect the earth's basic
life-support systems
before it is too late.

***************************************************

The Work of Nature : How the Diversity of Life Sustains Us
by Yvonne Baskin, Abigail Rorer (Illustrator), Paul R. Ehrlich Our
Price: $27.50
Usually ships in 2-3 days Hardcover - (April 1997) 288 pages
Reviews : From Booklist , April 15, 1997 Baskin, a science journalist
with a
pleasingly lucid style, reports on the findings of an innovative
ecological
survey
conducted in the hopes of answering the question, "What are the
possible
consequences of the accelerating losses in biodiversity?" Biodiversity
is more
than
the earth's "lavish array of organisms," to use Baskin's lovely
phrase; it
embraces
the myriad interactions among those species (at least 100 million,
according to
some
estimates) that make the planet "hospitable for humanity." As
scientists become
increasingly attuned to the complexity of the interconnectedness of
plants and
animals, from the tiniest of microflora that keep our soil fertile, to
the
largest
of mammals, they are beginning to recognize the functional role of
each species
in
the ceaseless work of keeping our air and water clean. People do,
indeed, need
each
and every life-form on the planet; the eradication of other species
through the
destruction of natural habitats will lead inexorably to the demise of
their own.
Donna Seaman Copyright 1997, American Library Association. All rights
reserved
Synopsis The lavish array of organisms known as "biodiversity" is an
intricately
linked web that makes the Earth a uniquely habitable plane. In this
book, a
noted
science writer examines the threats posed to humans by the loss of
biodiversity
and
explains key findings from the ecological sciences. It is the first
book of its
kind
to clearly explains the practical consequences of declining
biodiversity of
ecosystem health and function and, consequently, on human society.
In The Work
of
Nature, noted science writer Yvonne Baskin examines the threats posed
to humans
by
the loss of biodiversity. She summarizes and explains key findings
from the
ecological sciences, highlighting examples from around the world where
shifts in
species have affected the provision of clean air, pure water, fertile
soils,
lush
landscapes, and stable natural communities. Distilling and bringing to
life the
work
of the world's leading ecologists, The Work of Nature is the first
book of its
kind
to clearly explain the practical consequences of declining
biodiversity on
ecosystem
health and functioning.

***************************************************
Earth Community, Earth Ethics
by Larry L. Rasmussen Our Price: $21.00 You Save: $9.00 (30%) Usually
ships in
1-2
weeks Hardcover - (October 1996) 366 pages
Reviews: Midwest Book Review Earth Community, Earth Ethics scans our
global
situation and brings into relief the extraordinary range of dangers
threatening
all
life on our planet. Earth Community, Earth Ethics goes on to explore
the worlds
of
religion, ethics, and human symbolism to glean from them the resources
for a
necessary "conversion to earth". Earth Community, Earth Ethics
concludes by
sketching a constructive ethic that can guide us out of our present
situation.
Earth
Community, Earth Ethics builds on the foundations of international
discussions
of
sustainable development and dhows how the environmental predicaments
underscores
a
variety of crisis afflicting modern industrial society in economics,
politics,
gender discrimination, and reproductive relations. Earth Community,
Earth Ethics
is
a vitally important contribution for all personal, academic,
governmental,
corporate, and organizational ecological studies reference book
collections.
The author, Larry L. Rasmussen : lrasmusn AT uts.columbia.edu , May 13,
1997 Book
award
for Earth Community, Earth Ethics Earth Community, Earth Ethics has
been
selected
for the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, 1997. This $150,000 prize for
best book in
religion joins the Grawemeyer Awards in music, education, and world
order.

***************************************************

The Forgotten Pollinators
by Stephen L. Buchmann, Gary Paul Nabhan (Contributor) Our Price:
$13.56 You
Save:
$3.39 (20%) Usually ships in 24 hours Paperback - (September 1997) 320
pages
Reviews : Amazon.com In The Forgotten Pollinators, two researchers
delve into
the
little-known and fascinating world of pollination. The authors, an
entomologist
and
an ethnobotanist and nature writer, illustrate in clear yet proficient
language
the
importance of this interaction between insect and plant, which
provides the
world
with one-third of its food source. Using colorful examples--including
a moth
that
rappels down cliffs to pollinate a plant in Hawaii--they also explain
how modern
developments are threatening this essential process. Published through
the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, the book is aimed at raising awareness
about the
potential loss of pollinators and their plants, while showing the
larger picture
of
a fragile ecosystem through the eyes of some of its more unnoticed
inhabitants.
--This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title The New
York Times
Book
Review, Carol Kaesuk Yoon A pleasing concoction of natural and
cultural history
illustrating how pollination works and how easily it can be disrupted.
--This
text
refers to the hardcover edition of this title
>From Booklist , July 19, 1996 : Nearly everyone is familiar with
Rachel Carson's
alarming prediction of a "silent spring," but few remember that she
also
predicted a
"fruitless fall." This dire phenomenon is inevitable: if the bees,
bats,
butterflies, birds, and beetles that pollinate plants go extinct, the
plant
species
they fertilize will die, too. What we're really seeing in the loss of
biodiversity
is the "extinction of ecological relationships" between plants and
animals.
Nature
is, after all, interaction and mutuality. Buchmann, a research
entomologist, and
Nabhan, author of eight books, including The Geography of Childhood
(1994), and
director of science at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, offer their
own form of
mutualism in this eye-opening and, thanks to illustrations by Paul
Mirocha,
eye-pleasing book. Buchmann and Nabhan take turns relating their
fascinating
observations of the habits of various pollinators in such diverse
locales as
Utah's
Virgin River watershed and the Galapagos Islands in an effort to
convey a sense
of
what exactly is at risk: nothing less than our sources of
nutrition--ultimately,
our
very lives. Donna Seaman Copyright 1996, American Library
Association. All
rights
reserved --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title
>From Kirkus Reviews , May 1, 1996 :Pollinators are the Rodney
Dangerfields of
the
animal world: They just don't get no respect. So claim entomologist
Buchmann
(Hayden
Bee Research Center) and Nabhan (Director of science/Arizona-Sonora
Desert
Museum)
in this at once delightful and disturbing tour d'horizon of those for
whom the
flowers bloom. ``One in every three mouthfuls of food we eat, and of
beverages
we
drink'' is served up to us by pollinators, notes E.O. Wilson in his
introduction.
Butterflies are out there working for us, as are the hummingbirds and
fig wasps,
pygmy gliders and panurgine bees, carrying pollen to stigma, allowing
seeds to
set.
Pollination is one of nature's vital processes, fine-tuned and
mesmeric in its
endless cycles, feedback loops, checks and balances. But as in so many
other
instances, humans are busy as the bees disrupting the process, bombing
pollinators
with pesticides, fragmenting their habitat, cutting off the nectar
corridors,
such
that the ``current rate of species loss constitutes a biodiversity
crisis of
unprecedented proportions.'' Buchmann provides the hard science of the
pollinators'
world: flower stalk architecture and nectar chemistry and flowering
sequences;
Nabhan contributes a felicitous dose of pleasing prose, framed as
anecdotal
remembrances: He's never happier than when poking about in a sere
landscape,
following the monarch butterflies on their winter migration, taking
stock of the
floral pantries. While this book can only be considered a preliminary
investigation,
trends indicate that pollinators may be getting ever more limited in
supply as
their
world shrinks around them. Buchmann and Nabhan make the case for
increased
wildlands, intact forests, an ecological approach that prevents
pollinator
habitat
from becoming islands, thus coffins, in a developed landscape. A
cautionary
tale:
Kill the pollinators and you might as well kill yourself. Another of
nature's
elegant loops. (b&w illustrations) (Author tour) -- Copyright 1996,
Kirkus
Associates,
Synopsis : ". . . a pleasing concoction of natural and cultural
history
illustrating
how pollination works and how easily it can be disrupted. . . . More
than the
species and the land that holds them, the book suggests, the living
world to be
cherished includes everything that these creatures, plants, and places
do--the
much
more vital and intangible biodiversity of interactions and
relationships."--The
New
York Times Book Review.
Synopsis : Without interaction between animals and flowering plants,
the seeds
and
fruits that make up nearly 80% of the human diet would not exist.
Here, the
authors
explore the vital but little-appreciated relationship between plants
and the
animals
they depend on for reproduction--bees, beetles, butterflies,
hummingbirds, and
countless other animals. --This text refers to the hardcover edition
of this
title
In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's
leading
authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan,
award-winning writer
and
renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital but little-appreciated
relationship
between plants and the animals they depend on for reproduction - bees,
beetles,
butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals,
some widely
recognized and others almost unknown. Scenes from around the globe -
examining
island flora and fauna on the Galapagos, counting bees in the
Panamanian rain
forest, witnessing an ancient honey-hunting ritual in Malaysia - bring
to life
the
hidden relationships between plants animals and demonstrates the ways
in which
human
society affects and is affected by those relationships. Buchmann and
Nabhan
combine
vignettes from the field with expository discussions of ecology,
botany, and
crop
science to present a lively and fascinating account of the ecological
and
cultural
context of plant-pollinator relationships. More than any other natural
process,
plant-pollinator relationships offer vivid examples of the connections
between
endangered species and threatened habitats. The authors explain how
human-induced
changes in pollinator populations - caused by overuse of chemical
pesticides,
unbridled development, and conversion of natural areas into
monocultural
cropland -
can have a ripple effect on disparate species, ultimately leading to a
"cascade
of
linked extinctions." --This text refers to the hardcover edition of
this title
Booknews, Inc. , December 1, 1996 : By invoking Rachel Carson in the
volume's
first
chapter, entitled, "Silent Springs and Fruitless Falls," Buchmann and
Nabhan let
readers know right away that they are pleading another endangered
species case.
The
wonder of their writing is that they make bees, beetles, butterflies,
moths,
bats
and other pollinators come vividly alive even as they emphasize that
the
destruction
of their habitat will destroy them too. Readers are treated to some
rare
anecdotal
descriptions from around the globe and careful scientific research
into the
delicate
balance between fauna, flora, and the birds and bees. Annotation c. by
Book
News,
Inc., Portland, Or. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of
this title
The publisher, Island Press/Shearwater Books , July 15, 1996 :Alert to
story in
current issue of Time Magazine The July 15th issue of Time Magazine,
on
newstands
now, carries a terrific story on pollinators and the role they play in
the
production of most of our food on page 60. Additional reviews are
forthcoming in
the
book review sections of many major metropolitan papers. --This text
refers to
the
hardcover edition of this title
Customer Comments : A reader, December 23, 1996 The world is complex
and
wonderful, especially reproduction. Ever wonder where most plants
come from?
They
come from seeds. Ever wonder where seeds come from? They come from
sex. Ever
wonder
what plant sex is about (or why this is an issue)? It comes from
beetles, bees,
butterflies, moths, birds, bats and winged pseudogenitalia in general,
whether
great
or small. Pollination is the key to life on the terrestrial earth.
Pollination
of
plants is also the key to life in much of the aquatic part of our
planet, which
is
about the only omission for which the authors might be faulted. It is
a
mind-expanding exercise, to be sure, to ask ourselves what would
happen if
pollinator "X" suddenly disappeared from the scene. Buchmann and
Nabhan have
taken
great care both to inform us that all would not be lost, because
pollinator "Y"
or
"Z" is frequently waiting in the wings. But in many, many cases,
pollinator "X"
has
never been studied and cannot even be named, let alone conserved.
--This text
refers
to the hardcover edition of this title

***************************************************
Stalking the Wild Amaranth: Gardening in the Age of Extinction
by Janet Marinelli
Our Price: $17.50
You Save: $7.50 (30%)
Usually ships in 2-3 days
Hardcover - (April 1998) 256
pages

Reviews
Amazon.com
It comes as no surprise to anyone
that human society has had a
pernicious effect on native plant
life. What is surprising is that plants
fall prey not only to the mechanical
effects of suburban expansion, but
also to such seemingly harmless
processes as the introduction of
nonnative rivals to their
eco-regions. Oddly, in the caseof
the seabeach amaranth, it was the
well-meaning efforts of various New
Jersey and Long Island waterfront
communities to curtail beach erosion that fragmented this
normally hardy plant's habitat, leaving it unable to
propagate.
It
is now, for all practical purposes, extinct. Throughout
North
America, approximately one-third of native plant species are
considered endangered.

Janet Marinelli's compelling history of the American
landscape
examines everything from the popular obsession with lawns to
the sex life of plants. For example, much of the decline in
plant
diversity can be traced to the rise of asexual clones--one
ubiquitous example is the Delicious apple--exacerbated by
the
American fondness for the neatly clipped garden, which
discourages open pollination of the few remaining native
plants.
But Marinelli goes much deeper than mere statements of fact,
using garden design as a metaphor that reveals changing
social
philosophies, from rationalist to romantic and back again,
and
sweeping Darwin, Einstein, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Gaia
hypothesis into the mix. The latter half of the book
concentrates
on the past few decades of gardening and what changes in
techniques and style have brought to the larger ecological
communities. Never have the possible implications of the
simple act of planting been made quite so entertaining.

The New York Times Book Review, Michael Pollan
... Marinelli is so reasonable, and such a breezy writer,
that
the
reader is happy to follow her deep into the thickets of
horticultural politics.

The Philadelphia Inquirer
...richly researched, intelligent and clearly written...

From Booklist , February 1, 1998
Horticulture professionals, together with passionate
gardeners,
have been engaged for quite some time in an ongoing dialogue
questioning the philosophy and methods of gardening today.
As
the director of publishing at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden,
Marinelli is intensely familiar with this important
discourse.
Here,
most capably, she tenders a sparkling narrative melding
personal memoir with scientific inquiry. Examining such
areas
as the impact of lessening numbers of plant species and the
status of biodiversity, Marinelli looks, too, at the
decades-long
debate surrounding contemporary garden design. Revealing her
own experiences as a gardener, and how pursued ideas and
ideals have been reconsidered, Marinelli contributes an
eloquent voice and stellar good humor to gardening
literature.
Opining that the new garden must act like nature, Marinelli,
in
this thoroughly researched effort, ultimately forges
critical
links
between current ecological viewpoints .. . for all who value
garden art, as well as for those sharing in a concern for
the
well-being of our natural world.
Copyright© 1998, American Library Association. All rights
reserved

From Kirkus Reviews , January 1, 1998
A level and elegant introduction to (and history of) natural
gardening from Marinelli. Not just the rainforest is in
trouble,
Marinelli reminds readers. The flora of East Hampton, NY, is
in
equal peril, as are fully one-third of this country's native
plants. Is
it possible that gardenersyour everyday, garden-variety
gardenerscan have a role shepherding these waifs and
wastrels
from the brink, perhaps even rescue and restore ancient
natural
communities? Marinelli thinks so. Her gardens, one in New
York
City and another on nearby Shelter Island, are organic
forms,
part of the local ecosystem, evolving from the site and
climate,
taking their cues from native plants (but not hog-tied to
them).
In
the city she seeks to re-create an echo of the primeval oak
forest setting, while on the island it's a meadow/wetland.
Her
ideal garden would have room for a diversity of species
within a
variety of habitats: productive and fertile, subtle and
refined,
celebrating the connection between humans and nature.
Marinelli's garden ethic is the product of many sources,
which
she details in her narrative: a well-rounded discussion of
the
natives vs. exotics; garden design from ancient Greece to
the
present; the possibilities and limitations of biodynamic
agriculture, French intensive gardening, permaculture, and
restoration; aspects of gardens within gardens: Gustav
Stickley's pergolas, Frank Lloyd Wright's glass rooms, Zen
dry
gardens, kitchen and water gardens; as well as the many
personalities who have shaped the ever-shifting aesthetic of
garden design. She also takes readers on a sweet tour of,
and
offers an ode to, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, where she
works as the director of publishing. Marinelli is too
adventurous
to be a strict nativist, but she also knows where help is
needed:
``I'm all for planting natives unless there's a good reason
not
to,
since indigenous species have lostand continue to loseso
much
ground.'' (22 line drawings) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus
Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Horticulture Online, April 1998
There's a staggering number of new gardening books hitting
the
marketplace these days. If your interests lie in heirloom
vegetables, Texas natives, or tender perennials, you'll have
no
trouble finding a tightly focused tome (or two) to satisfy
your
curiosity. Likewise, if you want advice on how to make your
garden attract birds, repel slugs, or discourage deer, it
lies
just
pages away at the local bookstore. On occasion, however, you
may find yourself hungry for another sort of "bigger
picture"
reading, one that tackles questions such as What has man
done
to the plants on the planet? Where is gardening headed? Are
we happy with this direction? As heady as all this can be,
it's
this sort of reading that challenges us to take a more
global
view
of our daily activities, from fertilizing the lawn to
spinning
donuts
on the sand dunes in the family's four-wheel drive.

If it's this type of insight that you are after, head to the
bookstore
for a copy of Stalking the Wild Amaranth: Gardening in the
Age of Extinction by Janet Marinelli (Henry Holt, 1998).
With a
nod to natural writer Euell Gibbons' classic narrative,
Stalking
the Wild Asparagus, the director of publishing at Brooklyn
Botanic Garden and editor of the BBG's highly praised series
of
handbooks embarks on a tale of the planet's plant life
that's
sure
to provide you with thought-provoking reading. The goal of
the
book is to explore what the gardener can do in a
"biologically
homogenizing time" to bring back the species teetering on
the
brink of extinction.

Writing in the tradition of essayists such as Roger B. Swain
in
Field Days: Journal of an Itinerant Biologist, Marinelli
deftly
weaves elements of personal experience with scientific fact,
natural history, and ecological vision. It opens with
Marinelli's
search for the highly endangered seabeach amaranth
(Amaranthus pumilus) on the beaches of the Hamptons, which
makes her realize the threatened nature of many plants in
her
own backyard. Subsequent chapters, which read more like
essays, are so chock full of ideas, that they are admittedly
a
bit
densely packed at times. But Marinelli's discussions are
lively,
articulate, and extremely engaging. She takes a nostalgic
but
honest look at the effects of the ever-growing suburbia of
her
childhood on the plant life of Long Island and juxtaposes it
with a
more scholarly debate over championing natives and
controlling
invasives. Her attempt (and ultimate failure) to emulate
Sissinghurst in her shady Brooklyn lot exemplifies how
gardening trends, with their nod toward fancy hybrids,
monocultured lawns, and attempts to grow cannas in Zone 5,
run
counter to nature's landscaping practices of open
pollination
that provide regionally specific diversity...

Book Description
An important horticultural memoir articulating a new
landscape
art that's both environmentally sensitive and rich in
creativity.

Janet Marinelli left her comfortable city garden to join a
botanist
colleague in search of the rare Seabeach Amaranth--one of
our
many native species that is in danger of extinction. The
result
of
the ensuing seven-year odyssey, Stalking the Wild Amaranth
is
a work of science and a work of art. Marinelli tells the
story
of
her discovery that contemporary gardening is out of sync
with
theories evolving on the frontiers of science and
philosophy.
She also tells of her quest for a new garden art that
nurtures a
greater richness and variety of earthly life.

Inspired by the legacy of Henry David Thoreau, Marinelli
blends
history, horticulture, erudition, and personal insight into
a
narrative that ponders the relationship between humankind
and
nature. She fleshes out a vision for a new, ecologically
wise
landscape art, disagreeing ultimately with those who insist
that
growing native plants is the only way to recover our
environmental equilibrium. "Gardeners," she writes, "should
be
free to experiment, to let our imaginations run wild, to
learn
how
to be the creators of biodiversity as well as the preservers
and
restorers."

From the Back Cover
Advance Praise for Stalking the Wild Amaranth

"Not since Voltaire has anyone so eloquently proclaimed the
wisdom and the necessity of cultivating our own gardens.
Without exaggeration, herein lie the secrets of saving the
world.
And the greatest surprise is to find that so many of the
truths
have been at our fingertips all along." -- Roger Swain,
science
editor of Horticulture magazine and host of PBS's "Victory
Garden"

"For centuries gardening was taught and practiced for the
subjugation of nature. Today we are so conscious of crowding
out native species that a new garden ethic is emerging --
one in
concert with nature. Janet Marinelli's provocative book
gives us
a new view and the tools to further this revolution." --
Rosalind
Creasy, author of The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping

"Janet Marinelli is a masterful storyteller. >From ancient
pleasure
gardens, Versailles and Sissinghurst, to the cutting edge of
landscape restoration, she creates an engaging and
entertaining tale of horticulture and ecology through time
and
place. As we begin the new millennium, she illuminates the
dilemmas, opportunities, and responsibilities we face as
architects and tenders of the global garden." -- C. Colston
Burrell, ecological designer and author of A Gardener's
Encyclopedia of Wildflowers

"I loved Stalking the Wild Amaranth -- couldn't decide
whether
to ration myself to one chapter per day or race through
nonstop.
You'll know exactly why I took the path of least resistance
as
soon as you start reading Janet Marinelli's newest book.
With
her usual candor and purity of spirit, she has convinced me
that
my new garden in central Iowa can be as Old World formal as
I
might like and still be ecologically wise." -- Elvin
McDonald,
garden editor of Traditional Home magazine

"In Stalking the Wild Amaranth, Janet Marinelli extends the
horizons for gardeners and their gardens to provide them
with a
clearer vision of these vital locations where, in her own
words,
'...we nurture nature as nature nurtures us...' Threads of
garden
history, horticulture, and ecology are woven into a highly
readable narrative that gives both guidance and hope for a
fresh
approach to gardening that goes beyond mere aesthetics to
our
interaction with gardens as essential ecosystems. The result
is
a book which challenges the reader to be not only a
gardener,
but an informed participant in the living landscape." --
Henry
W.
Art, Samuel Fessenden Clark Professor of Biology at Williams
College and author of A Garden of Wildflowers: 101 Native
Species and How to Grow Them

"In Stalking the Wild Amaranth, Janet Marinelli enlightens
and
delights us with discourse on our gardening past. More
importantly, she gives us nurturing food for thought about
how
as
people who grow things we might become more effective
caretakers of all that is green and growing in the global
landscape that is our collective garden." -- Craig Tufts,
director
of the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Habitat
program
and author of Backyard Naturalist

"Marinelli's carefully collected information and thoughtful
analysis should be given to nature-deprived suburbia all
over
America!" -- Lorrie Otto, environmental consultant and
teacher/naturalist

The author, Janet Marinelli , April 10, 1998

I grew up on Long Island on a block called Garden Place.
Sounds like a perfect name for a horticultural soap opera.
Well,
ecologically it could have been scripted by Stephen King.
Grandma grew tomatoes. Dad mowed the lawn. Every Mother's
Day Mom got another pink azalea. Today, my childhood garden
looks like just about every other suburban garden from
Boston
to Seattle, with its golf course-quality lawn, clipped yews,
azaleas, and shade trees ringed by begonias. Across a
continent of breathtaking biological diversity we've planted
the
same two dozen plants. No wonder botanists are worried about
the long-time survival of about a third of this country's
native
species!My whole life I've watched New York City sprawl
relentlessly eastward across Long Island, obliterating the
natural
landscape. About ten years ago it dawned on me that as
wilderness shrinks and backyard acreage increases,the home
gardener's role in the current extinction crisis grows ever
greater. If gardeners are a big part of the problem, then
they're
certainly a key part of the solution. In fact, I'm convinced
that
humble gardeners will be the environmental heroes of the
21st
century. That's what Stalking the Wild Amaranth is all
about.

Seven years ago, I joined botanist Steve Clemants, my
colleague at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in a search for the
seabeach amaranth, one of thousands of American plant
species threatened with extinction. Seabeach amaranth hadn't
been seen in New York or most of the other Atlantic coastal
states in its historical range for decades. Then, out of the
blue, it
was spotted on Long Island in the summer of 1990! Nobody
knows how it returned, though one theory is that its seed
was
washed ashore by Hurricane Hugo, which had lashed the
Mid-Atlantic coast the year before.Steve and I set out to
follow
up on reports of the plant's mysterious comeback. After
searching for days, we finally found it on the glamorous
ocean
beaches of eastern Long Island. The thrill of our discovery,
however, was dampened by the fact that the plant, one of the
rarest on the planet, had just been flattened by a
four-wheel-drive vehicle. For me, the amaranth suddenly came
to symbolize what is wrong with our attitude toward nature
--
and
with gardening, its consummate expression. Stalking the Wild
Amaranth is the story of my realization that contemporarary
gardening is out of whack with the theories evolving on the
frontiers of science and philosophy, and of my personal
quest
for a new ecological garden that nurtures a greater richness
and
variety of earthly life.

Stalking the Wild Amaranth is part detective story, part
scientific
study, part history book, part autobiography, and part
blueprint
for a new, ecologically wise landscape art. Above all, it is
a
story
that melds personal memoir and scientific inquiry -- I can't
think
of another gardening book that ends with a 14-page,
single-spaced bibliography in tiny type listing scores of
technical
scientific references. The cutting-edge science is brought
to
life
with anecdotes that trace my own growth as a gardener, how
my
personal ideas and ideals have been reconsidered. And unlike
most contemporary books about the state of the natural
world,
the book's message goes beyond gloom and doom; the fact
that I chose as a symbol the seabeach amaranth -- a gravely
threatened plant, to be sure, but one that reappeared
serendipitously in at least part of its range after being
presumed
extinct for 40 years -- tells you that this is ultimately a
hopeful
book. In fact, it's a gardening journey marked by humor --
ecologically sensitive gardening needn't be a dreary affair.
We
can do our part and still have flair and fun.

In a nutshell, what I mean is that when most people garden,
they
try to create a scene, an idyllic picture, an abstract,
almost
static
form. The fact that the medium is living, growing plants --
not
paint -- is almost beside the point. The basic assumption is
that
we humans are different and separate from nature, not a part
of
it. This nature-culture dualism, as it's been called,
ignores
some
of the central tenets of 20th-century science. To give just
two
examples: it ignores the principal theory of evolution,
which
holds that people are descended from other animal species.
It
also ignores another fundamental idea of contemporary
science, the ecosystem concept, which suggests that nature
--
ourselves included -- is inextricably connected not only at
the
molecular level, as conventional reductionist science has
implied, but at every level. In other words, what we do in
our
gardens has a profound effect on the rest of nature.

I think hundreds of years from now when people look back at
the
late-20th-century, they'll see it as a time when we faced a
momentous choice. If we decide to do nothing to stop the
current torrent of extirpations, it will probably stand
among
the
worst half-dozen episodes of mass extinction in the history
of
life
on Earth. But unlike past ecological dominants responsible
for
similar cataclysms of extinction, such as the dinosaurs, we
know
what we’re doing. Which means that we can -- and should --
do
something about it. How can we, in good conscience, let all
these creatures slip away before our eyes?

We've got to summon up the courage to play the leading role
in
the evolutionary drama for which we, the most aware and
self-conscious of nature's creations, seem destined.
Gardeners,
with our centuries of practical experience in growing
plants,
are
in a unique position to help save endangered species and
natural communities. But in order to be able to do that, we
need
to learn how to distinguish destructive practices from
creative
ones that enhance the diversity and complexity of life on
this
incredibly beautiful planet.

The new ecological gardens are organic forms, part of the
local
ecosystem, evolving from the site and climate, taking their
cues
from native plants, but not necessarily hog-tied to them.
They
nurture a diversity of species in a variety of habitats. In
more
traditional gardening terms, they include a variety of
gardens
within the garden -- from indoor gardens and outdoor garden
rooms to wild gardens and water gardens. A true ecological
landscape includes plantings that honor our own species'
long
and fruitful relationship with the land, whether an elegant
formal
herb garden or a patio edged with fragrant flower borders.
There's certainly room on our properties for healthy,
home-grown food. The new ecological garden also performs the
vital task of reestablishing the complex web of biological
relationships found in the natural landscape. In other
words,
it's
a garden that acts like nature.

About the Author
Janet Marinelli is the director of publishing at the
Brooklyn
Botanic Garden. She is the author of Your Natural Home and
The Naturally Elegant Home. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Lawrence F. London, Jr. Venaura Farm
intergarden.com InterGarden
metalab.unc.edu/intergarden InterGarden
metalab.unc.edu/permaculture PermaSphere
metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/orgfarm AGINFO
lflondon AT mindspring.com london AT metalab.unc.edu



  • Agriculture bibliography Part 29, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 03/04/2000

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