The Heirloom Gardener by John Forti

The Heirloom Gardener by John Forti

This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is Traditional Plants and Skills for the Modern World.

The Heirloom Gardener isn't just a gardening guide; it's a time machine for a simpler, more straightforward way of life.

John Forti confidently delves into the rich history and traditions of heirloom seeds. He shares the joy of growing food that's not only delicious but deeply connected to your community and the planet.

In the preface, John shares how he came to be a gardener. Of his early experience, he wrote:

Work at a garden center in my teens further ignited my interest in horticulture; it also helped me save up enough money to travel to Japan as an exchange student, far from my river and deep pine woods. There I saw the Japanese veneration of the land made manifest in regional artisanal foods, historic preservation, and the Zen-like devotion to the craft of gardening, the art of placing a single stone in a garden wall or a budding branch in an ikebana arrangement. I witnessed firsthand how much we are all shaped by place.

When I returned, I explored garden history and ethnobotany with deep interest.

John introduces the art and practice of heirloom gardening this way:

Things like an old rhubarb patch, the remnants of an orchard, or a lichen-covered stone wall are talismans that help us read the landscapes we inherited. Through them, we catch a glimpse of how someone applied craftsmanship and the environmental arts to live in accord with nature. As heirloom gardeners in our shared backyard, we remember the work our hands were born to do, intuitively, like a bird follows its migratory path or a newly hatched turtle scrambles to the sea.

I may be a romantic, but I do not romanticize the past. In my work as a garden historian and herbalist, I am not blind to the shortcomings, biases, and errors of earlier times, but I also see families connected to seeds and soil, people connected to place, and a deep value for living in concert with our environment.

This book is an alphabetical collection of brief essays and artisanal images, each a seed, a way in to a different element of an heirloom gardening lifestyle; I see each entry as a point of connectivity-hand to hand, ancestor to descendant, seed to table. It's a love poem to the earth... a guidepost for gardeners... who want to cultivate common ground and craft new possibilities from local landscapes.

 

Here is a sample entry regarding Angelica; John writes,

A majestic herb is Angelica archangelica, cultivated through the ages for its flavor, fragrance, and stately beauty.

In the garden, the hollow and resinous stems of this regal herb, covered in broad leaves, can easily tower three to five feet, and the enormous flower umbels rise up to seven feet toward the heavens - perhaps one of the reasons that the plant was dedicated to the archangels in Medieval times. Early each spring in centuries past, Europeans and Colonial Americans would harvest the tender stalks and simmer them in a simple syrup; eventually the stalks would become the translucent light green of sea glass, and the syrup would take on the color and herbaceous balsam flavor so unique to angelica. As lovers of spring have done long since, I repeat the process and candy the stalks until they become tender; I then either slice the stems lengthwise, into short segments, or braid the long strands together before rolling them in finely ground sugar...They are excellent served like membrillo or marmalade with cheese and dessert platters... Like an herbal equivalent to candied ginger, candied angelica was often served as digestive at the end of feasts.

Throughout the growing season, but especially in spring and summer, I enjoy serving gin and tonics and other cocktails with straws made from thinner angelica stems. I also save the syrup that results from the candying process; it's an amazing herbal elixir to add into cocktails or serve atop vanilla ice cream.

With stunning illustrations and practical advice, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to slow down, reconnect with nature, and savor the sweet rewards of homegrown bounty.

You can get a copy of The Heirloom Gardener by John Forti and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $7.