[.ca] The Sweet Breathing of Plants: Women Writing on the ... (ISBN 086547625X)

Book of wisdom.....:
THE SWEET BREATHING OF PLANTS should be required reading for high school and early college classes covering the natural world. I'm a big fan of essays, books, etc. written by naturalists, and SBP is one of the best collections of essays I've come across. The editors, Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson have included the works of leading scientists such as Rachel Carson and Jane Goodall, but they've gone beyond the tried and true and compiled a collection of essays by many other scientists, naturalists, veternarians, and very wise women including Susan Orlean who recently produced THE ORCHID THEIF. The golden rule of nature seems to be cooperation, not competion. SCIENCE magazine once published an article entitled "Nature Red in Tooth and Claw" and while a good deal of consumption takes place in the natural world, symbiosis is far more important. Nature is bigger than the "survival of the fittest." Many plants and animals have symbiotic relationships. I think my favorite example is the dandelion which pulls calcium to the surface which allows other plants to thrive. In the plant world, having a dandelion for a neighbor can be a good thing good. Native Americans in the Amazon riverine forests have not lost touch with nature. They understand that partially submerged trees feed the fish, and that they must build their gardens in the forest and away from the river banks which are exposed in the dry season. Contrast this attitude with that of the inhabitants of the Sierra who are felling trees in old growth forests as fast as they can. The regrowth is never the same. As one writer who used to work for the U.S. Forest service explains, the name of the game is to replace the living forest with a single tree. Monoculture seems to be more economically sound. But is it economically sound to destroy the environment including the old growth forests? A growing body of evidence suggests this is not the case and much of it is contained in this book. A good deal of money (if that is all that matters) can be made from keeping the forests entact. Medicinal plants yet to be discovered live in the forest. Recreation including sight-seeing, fishing, and other "noninvasive" outdoor sports are an important source of income. One of my favorite essays was written by Donna Kelleher, a veternarian who practices holistic medicine. In her essay entitled, "Living Medicine for Animals" Kelleher writes of her experiences with animals, including Chirpy, a pet bird who suffered from a claw infection of Staphylococcus bacteria. Kelleher treated Chirpy with a mixture she concocted consisting of Calendula and other herbs after conventional forms of treatment failed to help Chirpy. The little bird was healed and lived two more years untile he died of old age. This book of essays should not be overlooked. If you think you've read it all you probably haven't. Although much of the information in this book can be found elsewhere (most of the authors have written extensively on their topics), this is a nice anthology of essays and a good place to start discovering all the natural world.

At last a feminine book on plants!:
To be honest, I never really considered myself a "plantswoman," just a dabbler when it came to gardening. But then I read this amazing collection of stories (with a few poems) and realized how much plants infuence my life--from sourdough "mold" to the herbal supplements I use as medicine, to the woods outside the backdoor of my childhood home. This is a very inspirational, accessible, and occasionally playful book. Above all else, it is excellently written. Thank you author Trish Maharam for that beautiful essay "Plantswoman." It taught me that woman do have their place in the green world no matter how unsophisticated they are in their plant knowledge, "it's the relationship that matters." I highly recommend this book to women everywhere.

A remarkable collections of singularly unique essays:
Collaboratively edited by Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson, The Sweet Breathing Of Plants is a gentle and remarkable collections of singularly unique essays about the relationship between women and plants, interdependent upon one another for life since prehistory. From "The Language of Flowers" to "The Flooded Forest," each individual treatise significantly contributes an unusual and memorable insight to the wondrous whole in this spiritually moving and deeply meaningful metaphysical anthology.

A Perfect Read!:
What more could you want in a collection of essays by women on plants? The editor includes essays to pique anyone's interest and arranges them in a charming and thoughtful manner. If you enjoy either nature writings or feminist prose this book is for you!