Nature Literature discussion

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Soil
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Becky
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Aug 18, 2023 11:16AM

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Dungy’s linguistic sensibility is acute. She is sharply attuned to the meaning of words. I’ve not read her poetry but her prose is lyrical. The theme of each chapter is related to the process of gardening and to particular plants. Bindweed is the chapter dealing with the political climate following the 2016 election. If you wonder what a prairie garden has to do with politics: “every politically engaged person should have a garden. By politically engaged, I mean everyone with a vested interest in the direction the people on this planet take in relationship to others. We should all take some time to plant life in the soil.” In other words, people and politics are not apart from the natural world but are a part of the natural world.
I learned a few new things about gardening and was surprised to learn that starting in the 1950’s the USDA recommended planting male trees along streets and sidewalks to avoid the mess of fruit and seeds from female plants. The commercial nursery trade propagated male plants and promoted their use in residential landscapes as well. Male plants produce pollen and the proliferation of male plants may account in part for the increase in human allergies.
For the Goodreads Nature Literature group, did anyone else read Soil? Your comments are welcome.