The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants

by Jennifer Jewell

“An empowering and expertly curated look at the horticultural world.” — Gardens Illustrated

In this beautiful and empowering book, Jennifer Jewell introduces 75 inspiring women. Working in wide-reaching fields that include botany, floral design, landscape architecture, farming, herbalism, and food justice, these influencers are creating change from the ground up.

Profiled women include flower farmer Erin Benzakein; codirector of Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman; plantswoman Flora Grubb; edible and cultural landscape designer Leslie Bennett; Caribbean-American writer and gardener Jamaica Kincaid; soil scientist Elaine Ingham; landscape designer Ariella Chezar; floral designer Amy Merrick, and many more. Rich with personal stories and insights, Jewell’s portraits reveal a devotion that transcends age, locale, and background, reminding us of the profound role of green growing things in our world—and our lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Nature, Feminism, Essays, Biography, Plants

324 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid listener to Cultivating Place and having collaborated with and interacted with Jennifer on several occasions, it was a delight to read this book! So many fascinating women---some I knew and others I didn't. Getting to be introduced to some of them here was lovely and I can't wait to read a bit more and learn from them.

Women are doing fascinating things in the plant world and it is high time we had a showcase of some of the very best. The photography is stunning and has revived a bit of my slump in wanting to garden. Getting out, observing, being with the plants---that's just the thing.

I'd love to see more writing from Jennifer in the future!

*I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my review---but I would have bought this book anyway and will as soon as it is on the shelves!*

[Laura Hoffman Brauman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son got me this for Mother's Day and it has been such a delight over the last few months to dip in and out of it, enjoying the profiles of women from around the world. In her introduction, Jewell states that she wants to focus on the diverse ways horticulture intersects with our everyday world. She certainly accomplishes that here -- she curates a collection that ranges from scientist to artist and author, garden designer to those working on sustainable living and addressing food deserts. One of the many highlights of this work was that each woman profiled called out other women in the world of plants that they admire. The idea of recognizing influence and impact of women by woman was wonderful. This one can take you down a lot of rabbit holes, but all of them are worth the trip.

[Lorilin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a non-young-SAHM who is interested in breaking into the gardening profession, this book has given me hope that I can do it! So many of the women featured here came to gardening as a second career, and, wow, they have been able to achieve so much and contribute so much beauty to the world. I enjoyed reading about their experiences and hearing their advice. I also appreciate how at the end of each woman's profile, there are even more "personal influencers" to explore. This book has such a wealth of information and resources for anyone looking to know more about gardening, and especially to know more about women in horticulture. I loved every page!

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

For millennia, as Jennifer Jewell points out in the Introduction to The Earth in Her Hands, women's work with plants was not acknowledged or rewarded. Which did not make it any less important. Part of Jewell's aim in compiling this collection is to address the lack of recognition of women's work in the plant world, and the crucial nature of diversity -- cultural, racial, social -- in enriching that work.

Our human engagement with plants connects us to the natural world, to our communities, and to ourselves on powerful intellectual, physical, and spiritual levels. ... [The work of the women profiled in this book] illustrates how the many challenges of our world can be met through cultivating an interdependence with plants. ... For centuries now the most visible representations of horticulture have been images of middle-aged and middle-class or affluent white people. But horticulture is a human impulse, in all cultures, in all times, practiced, codified, ritualized, and valued across any and all social boundaries.

Arranged in alphabetical order (by last name) from Leslie Bennett, founder of Black Sanctuary Gardens in Oakland, California, to Ayana Young, cofounder and host of "For the Wild" podcast, the book profiles women around the world who are revolutionizing horticulture, landscape design, flower and vegetable farming, seed-growing, botany, herbalism, and plant-related art and conservation.

Some of them are already legends: Indian environmental and agroecology advocate Vendana Shiva, whose work elevating the status of women farmers is internationally recognized; garden journalist Margaret Roach, former editorial director of Martha Stewart Living; seedswoman Renee Shepherd, founder of Renee’s Garden Seeds, who helped convince Michelle Obama to greatly expand the White House edible garden; landscape architect and livable cities practitioner Mia Lehrer; and plantswoman Lauren Springer, whose passion for gardening for wildlife equals her love for introducing outstanding native plants to the green industry. Others, if not as well-known, are influencers in their own way, visionaries who are passionate about their work and about making a positive change in the world.

Jewell introduces each profile with a short section called "Her Landscape" or "Her Plants." A brief quote gives a personal glimpse into each woman. Cara Loriz, Executive Director of the Organic Seed Alliance based in rainy Port Townsend, Washington, confesses that her landscape is "The high desert. I love the tenacity of the plants that grow there and I am fascinated by the Native American history of farming in this landscape." At the end of each profile are the names of women who have inspired each influencer, a lovely way of acknowledging and highlighting their network of mentors.
The profiles are enriched by abundant quotes from each of the women, clearly drawn from Jewell's interviews for her radio show and podcast. That abundance of source material brings each woman to life, although the profiles sometimes feel a bit choppy, as if pruned too severely to fit into the book’s format: four pages per profile, including a portrait photo of each woman in her milieu.

My one real disappointment though, is the book’s clothbound cover, which features an embossed design that is as lively as a 1960s textbook. That aside, The Earth in Her Hands is a compendium of women plant-influencers whose work is worth displaying, sharing, and consulting again and again.

Reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Susan J Tweit.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a digital ARC of this beautiful book from Netgalley. The following review has been posted on my website:

Weaving together small vignettes, Jennifer Jewell presents us with a glorious collection of women who have found their strengths and their voices in the greening of our world.

Each woman shares her origin story, the plant they love most or that inspired them on this winding journey - and each makes the connection with community and how their work holds up to the challenge that our disconnected world presents.

Many stories start with passed down knowledge and turn to the concern of the future that their own children or future generations will face. It starts with the roots and goes through unto seed. There are familiar voices from activists, farmers, artists, mothers, healers, and entrepreneurs - all creators in their own right. Each story told inspired and uplifted.

Like an arrangement of flowers of all different sizes, colors, and all different backgrounds, Jewell presents us with a luscious bouquet of strength, beauty, and hope.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Begins the conversation of gardening’s history with colonisation. Could go farther there but so interesting to see all the directions plants can take you!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, inspirational stories. Educators could use this as a resource to inspire young people toward very rewarding career options.

[Pam Dawling · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Earth in Her Hands is a beautiful book: a book to browse, a book to share with friends, a book that will leave you feeling you are with friends, even when you browse alone, a book to come back to often. By turns encouraging and comforting, as well as validating, reinforcing and supporting the value of our work caring for plants and their associated people.
Jennifer Jewell is the host of the radio program and podcast Cultivating Place, produced at an NPR station in Northern California; the writer of many gardening articles, and an advocate for gardening. Here she has assembled a four-page spread on each of 75 women.
Over 40 of the contributors describe themselves as writers or educators, and 24 as gardeners or farmers. I expect the total is higher, and that many contributors are excellent home gardeners, but didn’t mention it. The next biggest category is the 20 women who work as designers or architects of landscapes, parks or gardens. Overlapping these designers of spaces is the group of 8 floral designers. This group is followed by the 15 who are some kind of public or school garden manager, director or administrator. Around a dozen (and I imagine more) are workers and advocates for social and environmental justice. There’s a group of about 25 who describe themselves as nurserywomen, horticulturists, plantswomen, botanists, plant hunters and native plant experts. Over a dozen are scientists and advocates in the field. A small group are plant breeders, seed farmers and seed scientists. And finally there are about ten garden, landscape or plant photographers and artists. I was disappointed there aren’t more vegetable growers, but I know writers write about what they know best.
One of Jennifer Jewell’s missions has been to Decolonize the Garden, to get away from images of middle-aged middle-class white people, working in the US with plants imported from Europe; and to do this without appropriating other people’s culture. Some of the women profiled address this issue directly. The women presented are mostly from the English-speaking countries of the world, but not only; majority white, but diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, sexual orientation and age. Each woman concludes her interview with a short list of one to four other inspiring women, either women who preceded them, or upcoming women more of us will want to know about. Some are very personal choices (family members), some are well-known; sometimes there are details, sometimes not.
Some of the women are world famous in the growers’ world, like Vandana Shiva, Elaine Ingham, Jamaica Kincaid, Leah Penniman, Margaret Roach and Renee Shepherd. Some are famous Virginians, such as Ira Wallace from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Beth Tuttle president and CEO of the American Horticultural Society, Claudia West the landscape designer in Arlington, and Peggy Cornett at Monticello. Others we meet for our first time.
Each profile starts with Her Work, Her Landscape (or Her Plant), and Her Plant Journey.
Here are some of the gems I picked out from this book:
“Fear is a great motivator, and there’s no magic. Get up early and really work hard, show up on time, be nice, don’t overcharge, get a client and look after them. Be enthusiastic. You have to be knowledgeable—I’ve given myself a challenging education—I am open to other people’s thoughts, and I ask questions. I remain deeply grateful for all the people who have generously shared their knowledge and allowed me to learn from them. I try to repay this generosity every chance I get.” (Jinny Blom)
There are “plant people and there are garden people. Plant people focus on individual plants and collecting, garden people focus on the whole experience and space creation. . . I get obsessed with plants, but I don’t abide a plant that isn’t doing its job well in the garden.” (Flora Grubb)
“You may not like living with us now, but conservationists make great ancestors.” (Jean Siddall)
“One [of the three cooperatively determined goals at Soul Fire Farm]: grow 80,000 pounds of food intensively on two acres of land using low-till methods, sequestering 2400 pounds of carbon, growing over a dozen African-indigenous heritage crops, and demonstrating several African-indigenous sustainable farming practices. Two: train eighty-plus new farmer-activists of color through our Black and Latinx Farmers Immersion and its apprenticeship program, and mentor eighty-plus BLFI alumni. Three: train and inspire 250-plus youth of color through our food-justice empowerment program and immersion.” (Leah Penniman and Soul Fire Farm)
“Growing up, when cheap eggs were still more interesting to most people than free-range eggs, my mother . . . believed passionately that chickens have a right to run free and should be allowed to do so. How is it possible that we have people in our society without access to healthful food and green space? Even more enraging to me is that we are producing food that won’t ensure our long term health on this planet. How is it possible that we don’t care more about future generations than we do about producing too much cheap food poorly now?” (Alys Fowler)
“I recently heard form Sarah Milligan Toffler, director of the Atlanta Children &Nature Network, that children in the United States spend less time outdoors than prisoners. That took my breath away and puts fear into my heart. Public gardens are one antidote to that. They are a safe place to get kids into nature. Once there, being there, learning there, loving and caring about nature—they are inoculated for life!” (Mary Pat Matheson)
“Her diverse forty-member team at Studio-MLA includes landscape architects, urban designers, community advocates, botanists, ecologists, and technical experts, with a purposeful 50:50 men-to-women ratio from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.” (Mia Lehrer). (Hopefully by now they have even gone beyond the binary gender classification.)
“When I first started attending conferences and meeting with growers, I would often be the only woman in a group meeting with a seed producer. Where others were mostly concerned with shipping and packing capacity, I was asking to compare varieties for flavor. Fortunately, that is changing now, as consumers are looking for more tasty produce.” (Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee’s Garden seed business).
I sighed to read that Jekka McVicar has been the only woman chair of the judging of the great floral pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show (up to 2018). She has won 62 RHS gold medals since she started contributing to their displays and gardens in 1993. She was the only certified organic grower at the Chelsea Show, and she used the platform to “make a call for more insect-friendly gardening.”
I was somewhat cheered to read that Julie Kierstead Nelson benefitted in the late 80’s, from a class-action lawsuit against the US Forest Service for discriminating against women, and several congressional acts, including the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. The convergence of these forces helped her get the job she was seeking.
“As long as we keep topping off architects’ buildings with green roofs, we’re fiddling while Rome burns. We’re seven billion people now—we have to really figure out how to build cities, not just buildings.” “Great landscape design can moderate extreme heat, recycle water, reduce energy use, lower carbon emissions, and attract people to urban areas.” (Martha Schwartz)
The mandate for Sunset magazine in the Southwest “to not promote thirsty plants, potentially invasive plants, or plants with high pest problems,” (Kathleen Brenzel, the editor).
Claudia [West] believes that cultivated plantings of all kinds “must be beautiful, inspire, have emotional content, and provide high ecological value and function. They must feed and provide habitat for wildlife, clean our air, soak up and purify polluted stormwater runoff, sequester carbon, treat soil contamination, and reduce noise in our cities.”
“. . .A modest little idea we had to stage as a horticultural revolt. We were tired of what the mainstream gardening media had to offer—warmed-over garden tips, repurposed press releases about the ten thousandth new coleus on the market, dull little essays about the wonders of spring—and we were convinced that bloggers could overthrow the gardening establishment. Like all good revolutionaries, we began by writing a manifesto.” (Amy Stewart, cofounder of the Garden Rant blog platform).
I enjoyed the pieces about urban farming (Yolanda Burrell); the young farmers’ movement (Severine von Tscharner Fleming); the organic Seed Alliance (Cara Loriz); the Berry Botanic Garden in Portland Oregon, where Julie Kierstead Nelson started a seed bank for rare and endangered plants of the Pacific Northwest; the work of Martha Schwartz at Harvard showing compelling results from integrating afforestation into urban landscapes; Fern Verrow farm in Herefordshire, England, where Jane Scotter and her husband grow food for chef Skye Gyngell at her restaurant Spring, in London; the work of Vandana Shiva and others in India to prevent the neem tree from being patented; Lauren Springer’s thirty-year career, introducing 50-60 new plants to the dry Intermountain West, providing more regionally-adapted resilient, beautiful plants; the Buehler Enabling Garden within the Chicago Botanic garden, a display garden made for people with disabilities, including PTSD “we do a lot of work with veterans who cope with hypervigilance. Here they can monitor the entry and exit points and feel protected by the walls without a sense of mystery.” (Barbara Kreski).

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a fascinating and enjoyable read. I liked the style of writing and was happy to learn about the women featured in this book.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Jenna Lenhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring! I would have loved to see the different plant women in sections by passion or field, and a resource section after each section. That way we can be inspired and find ways to easily connect with these people in their work today.

[Patrice Todisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years, women's contributions to horticulture and its allied fields has been underrepresented, a footnote in the history books. Yet, these contributions have been profound, anchored in the need to create physical space and integrate green and growing things into their lives and the lives of others. In The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants, Jennifer Jewell likens this communal expression of passion and connectivity as akin to mapping mycelia pathways between collaborating organisms in the soil of the forest."

These women are extraordinary, indeed. Their diverse stories transcend boundaries of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, sexual orientation and age. Compiled as an exuberant, textured collection of individual profiles, each includes an introduction to their work, plant, plant journey, and the other women who inspired and continue to inspire them. The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants provides a welcome addition to the ongoing exploration of women making their lives with plants and broadening the field of plant knowledge and practice.

The profiles are drawn from the geographic scope that Jewell, the host of the national award-winning weekly public radio program and podcast Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History & the Human Impulse to Garden, knows best - US, England, Ireland, Wales, Canada, Australia, India, and Japan. Their innovative work is ongoing and broadly relates to horticulture in all its iterations including botany, environmental science, landscape design/architecture, flora culture, agriculture, social justice, plant hunting and breeding, seed science, gardening, garden writing, garden photography, public garden administration, research and public policy.

Ira Wallace, founding owner and worker of the sixty-acre Acorn Community Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia grew up gardening with her grandmother in Tampa, Florida. Ceramic artist and potter, Frances Palmer of Weston, Connecticut grows up to 50 varieties of dahlias and teaches at the New York Botanical Garden. Midori Shintani is the head gardener of the Tokachi, Millennium Forest in Hokkaido, Japan. Jinny Blom is a British garden designer and writer with an international clientele. Australian Georgina Reid is the editor and founder of The Planthunter, an online magazine. Renee Shepherd is a nurserywoman and the founder and owner of the web-based, Renee's Garden.

Each comes from wildly different worlds and perspectives, but they are bound together by their passionate embrace of and advocacy for plants.

While Jewell acknowledges that, "there is no telling the whole story of women making their lives with plants or of women broadening the field of plant knowledge and practice" The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants is a welcoming reminder of the historic role that women have played in horticulture. It is also a celebration of the vibrant women forging new paths in horticulture and its allied professions today.

In the generous spirit of community that pervades Jewell's sensibilities, I thought it would be fun to share some of the books that inspired the subjects of her profiles. You may, like me, be dipping into your past to revisit some of your favorite garden writing to get you through this difficult time. Enjoy.

In no particular order: Once Upon a Windowsill: A History of Indoor Plants, Tovah Martinson (2009); A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve (1931); Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land, Leah Penniman (2018); Flourish, Willow Crossley (2016); Silent Spring, Rachel Carson (1962); Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden, Eleanor Perenyi (1981/2002); Gardening for Love, Elizabeth Lawrence (1988); Constance Spry Book of Flower Arranging, Constance Spry (1985); Planting in a Post-Wild World, Claudia West (2015); Garden People, Valerie Finnis (2007); The Apple Book, Rosie Sanders (2010); We Made a Garden, Margery Fish (1956); The Garden Primer, Barbara Damrosch (1988); Onward and Upward in the Garden, Katherine White (1979); The Dry Garden, Beth Chatto (1995); A Country Year: Living the Questions, Sue Hubbell (1986); Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, Emma Marris (2015); The Japanese Garden, Sophie Walker (2017).

[Annaliese · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I listened to the audiobook version of this, so maybe it would be better in a different form.

This is quite a boring book. And, despite the author stating in the beginning that she wanted to include women from diverse backgrounds, most (if not all) of the women I heard about are privileged. True, I didn’t finish this book, so maybe later on she gets to people who don’t have Ivy League degrees, have shops in Mill Valley, California, or have gardened all over the world; but to me this is just another book championing privilege. It makes me think about other books that annoyed the hell out of me, such as the zero waste books that give all sorts of pricey options to live a better lifestyle ($200 sandwich wrap, anyone?).

My main complaint about these kinds of books is that it disenfranchises those less fortunate (aka the majority of the world). Why try when it takes loads of money, parental/family support, and fancy degrees? Although that isn’t true, that’s what I feel these books portray.

Maybe I should create a shelf on Goodreads called “I’m Too Socialist for These Books”. 😑

[Tamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted to love this book. I think the concept was good but the execution didn't pan out. When I first started reading, I was so excited to read about all these women working with plants. A quarter way in and the book became repetitive. You can only read about landscape designers, photographers, and floral designers so much before it becomes redundant. I would have liked to see a more vast selection of careers, i.e. crop farmers, permaculture designers, foresters, limnologists, and Herbalists. The possibilities are endless! There was a bit of diversity in the women written about, but I found that most of the women had a very similar background. This book could have benefited from more stories of women with a wider range of cultural, ethnic, social, spiritual, and economic backgrounds.

Three star rating because I think the concept was good, and there were some interesting bios despite the repetitiveness.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this beautiful and colorful guide to "letting houseplants into our lives". Each page gives you just enough care information, trivia, unusual facts, and appropriate quotes about each plant, to help you decide if the plant is for you. The first chapter has 8 sub-chapters as to why we should have houseplants-their benefits. There is a large enough variety to satisfy and educate the new houseplant owner, and encourage those of us who are already plant-owners, to try something new!

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the backstories of women connected to gardens in some way...design, urban gardening, administrating over major public botanical gardens, flower growers, retailers, etc..

It's a nice coffee table book to look at sometimes.

Would have liked more photographs of their projects v. Full page posed photos of the women themselves... or maybe photos of them with family or at work in the fields of the goddess.

Would have also preferred to see more women of color, less elite managers, and more origin stories.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book that profiles women involved in all areas of horticulture around the world (but mainly in the U.S.). I loved that I can read it randomly, picking it up like a big Reader's Digest of gardening women and finishing one or two "articles" without committing a ton of time to it. The range of regions and experiences of those profiled is vast, and I enjoyed the little Q&A at the beginning of each section asking about favorite plants/landscapes. This is NOT a gardening how-to book; if you glean tips on growing, it's incidental.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the introduction to each of her subjects, the author includes a particular flower or landscape to which the woman has an affinity. I found this particularly evocative, wondering what flowers and landscapes might reveal something of myself. It was refreshing that the author chose women who have their hands on the soil, the plants, the camera, and the pen. Overall, I found the collection of the journeys of these women inspiring.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite, most inspiring garden books ever. I loved reading how the different women got started gardening and the journeys they took.
If you want to go down the path to gardening/plants for life, I recommend this book. There are some wonderful quotes and at the end of each woman's story, there are other gardening heroes she recommends.
It took a while to read because there is so much to digest.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of inspirational plantswomen, but would’ve appreciated a broader look internationally. Appreciate that Jewell works through the online horticulture community, and so would have plenty of women she’s met through there to feature, but think the book would have been stronger with a few more plantswomen from different countries, a few less women who are currently popular on the Internet.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Checked this book out from the library because when I opened the book to a random page, that random page had local plantswoman Lauren Springer. There were a lot of other talented and interesting women in the book too and I liked reading their lists of women who inspired them.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Each person highlighted has the following info: her work, her plant, her plant journey and other inspiring women. Beautiful stories of how these women cultivate their plant places - one handful of plant-rich earth at a time- Jennifer Jewell. An inspiring book.

[Sabrina Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspired me on so many levels! On places to visit, on garden aspirations of my own, and ideas of being a responsible gardener!

[Karen Soanes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this books. The women are diverse and cover all different kinds of plant work and the photos are beautiful. Reading this added to my reading list and blogs and podcasts I know subscribe to.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent education

I like exploring new ideas (at least new to me) - very satisfying. So much to think about in this garden of perspectives.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit like reading the phone book, though I’m glad it was published. It’s just pretty dry material.

[Kristen Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh a little boring but would make a good coffee table book to browse through

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating book. There is a 4 page spread on a variety of plant women. Took many notes for future book suggestions and more learning opportunities.

[Dede · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this author right before the pandemic shut down. So I will always remember her. She has some very interesting women in this book.

[Giselle]

DNF'd

[Alissa Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the intro to so many interesting and inspiring women!