Grassroots Gardening: Rituals for Sustaining Activism (ISBN 1568583451)

Decent read on a gardener's practice.:
I enjoyed this book. I did. It was a very quick read. Schaper is at her best when she's discussing her 'plotting' in winter for the next season's garden and the women of the Amherst Garden Club. The most successful essays were centered around her personal experiences with both homes and with planting. That said, some of the theoretical examinations seemed a bit surface. I could have definitely done without the gypsy nonsense, for starers. If you really want to actually think about CSAs and garden markets, you'd get more out of Michael Pollan. His wonderfully rich analysis of Polyface Farm in Omnivore's Dilemna or his discussion of apple varietals in Botany of Desire, for instance. I had trouble understanding the relevance of the title to the contents of this book. I understand the author sees herself as an activist, but it barely shines in her words. Only the most abstract meanings and applications of activism are touched on. Schaper is a fan of the Slow Food movement and defends it as a more than idealism. I'd tend to agree, but it seems much more realized in it's orginal Italian incarnation. The New York chapter looks like it has wonderful events but they are not cheap. It strikes me as fairly rarified...It's the good life for people with the luxury to focus on it. Upper middle class white people should tone down the pretense of being populists. While Schaper calls herself middle class, she's moved back to Manhattan in the last few years and has a backyard. Do that math. Not so struggling. I had a problem with the essay on Gleaning. Schaper has no problem discussing Sackville-West, but it's insulting to your audience to assume that wouldn't have seen a french film that this essay is so clearly 'borrowed' from. Rearranging someone else's ideas might work in freshman lit in collge but she really should have referenced Agnes Varda. Gleaning should not extend to other people's ideas and work. Read Michael Pollan and rent 'The Gleaners and I' by Agnes Varda from Netflix if you're at all interested in these topics.