Heirloom Gardener: Traditional Plants and Skills for the Modern World

265 Pages·2021·17.304 MB·English

by  Forti, John

EHEIRLOOM
H
T
GARDENER

EHEIRLOOM
H
T
GARDENER
Traditional Plants & Skills
for the Modern World
JOHN FORTI
TIMBER PRESS • PORTLAND, OREGON
Copyright © 2021 by John Forti. All rights reserved.
Illustrations by Mary Azarian,
with the exception of those on pages 7, 63, 67, 79, 103, 115, 119,
125, 147, 171, 174, 181, 216, 243, 246 (Patricia Wakida).
Endpapers by Patricia Wakida.
Published in 2021 by Timber Press, Inc.
The Haseltine Building
133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450
Portland, Oregon 97204-3527
timberpress.com
Printed in China
Text and cover design by Sarah Crumb
ISBN 978-1-60469-993-7
Catalog records for this book are available from
the Library of Congress and the British Library.
To my many mentors,
and those who have touched me with
soulful landscapes and the spirit of place.
Contents
PREFACE 9 INTRODUCTION 12
ANGELICA 16 FIDDLEHEADS 86
APPLE CART 19 FLORICULTURE 89
ARTISANAL SKILLS 24 FORAGING 93
BEE BALM 32 GARDEN CRAFT 97
BIODIVERSITY 35 GRUIT 102
BOTANIZING & HERBARIA 44 HEIRLOOMS 105
CHESTNUT 50 HERBALISM 110
CORDIALS 55 INDIGENOUS PLANTS 114
DANDELION 58 JACK-O-LANTERNS 118
DISTILLATION 62 JOHNNY-JUMP-UPS 121
DOORYARD GARDENS 69 KELP 123
EDIBLE FLOWERS 72 KITCHEN CRAFT 128
ELDER 75 KITCHEN GARDENS 132
ELM 78 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS 135
ETHNOBOTANY 82 LAWN 139
MAPLE SYRUP 141 TEA 195
MAY DAY 146 THANKSGIVING GRACE 198
MILKWEED 149 TONICS 203
NASTURTIUM 153 VALERIAN 209
OLD WAYS 155 VICTORY GARDENS 211
ORGANIC GROWING PRACTICES 162 WATTLE 216
PERENNIAL CROPS 167 WREATHS 220
QUEEN ANNE’S LACE 170 WUTTAHIMNEASH 223
QUINCE 173 XERISCAPING 226
RAISED BEDS 176 YARDS 230
RHUBARB 180 YARROW 238
ROSEMARY 183 ZINNIA 242
SAGE 186 ZUCCHINI 245
SEASONALITY 188
SORREL 192 INDEX 248

Preface
I COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED my career path as I wandered
the riverside landscapes of my youth. My feet were on it, but I was
too distracted by treetops and moccasin flowers to see it. Life in a
small town (a great place to grow up “if you’re a tree,” according to
my friends) quickly came to feel too small. 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 ven-
eration 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. After college, I began working as a horticulturist
for Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum, which grounded me
in the native plants of the Wampanoag and the heirloom plants cul-
tivated by the Pilgrims, the first immigrants to the region. I studied
the craft of horticulture and the ethnobotany of early New England.
Why did baskets, pottery, housing, and fashion take the shape they
did? How did seasonal fluctuations and coastal living influence set-
tlements, agriculture, diet, and spirituality?
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