Des Kennedy has a new book out, Heart and Soil: The Revolutionary Good of Gardens. This is a
collection of 60 stories, each about two pages long, originally written for GardenWise magazine and the Globe and Mail. Anyone who saw him in
action last year at the Patricia Theatre will appreciate these tales.
The theme of the collection is developing harmony with the
natural world and the community. The stories “reflect upon gardening as an
active engagement of the human spirit with the natural world.” Many of the articles are based on his experiences establishing his garden on Denman Island.
Kennedy describes an “ivy pull” and his battle against
English ivy, and incorporating old western red cedar stumps from early logging
into his garden. His experience with ladybugs to control aphids in his
greenhouse includes valuable information on the lifecycle and habits of the
ladybugs and aphids.
He talks about his original mulching system for the
vegetable garden, its pros and cons, and why he no longer uses that method. The
article on trees that shed outer layers of bark, such as the arbutus and
paperbark maple, includes the explanation of why they do it.
The stories are entertaining but also educational. And if
you want to review information you read on sempervivums, for example, the index
in the back of the book will take you straight to the page you are looking for.
Heart and Soil is published
by Harbour Publishing.
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