The Earth Knows My Name
FOOD, CULTURE, AND SUSTAINABILITY in the GARDENS OF ETHNIC AMERICANS
REVIEWS
PATRICIA KLINDIENST
"When I picked up The Earth Knows My Name, I expected to be interested, perhaps even educated. I did not expect to be moved. It was a wonderful surprise to realize that I was reading not just an intriguing book, but an important one."
"From Italians who fled fascism with precious seeds to Indian expatriates who grow jamun, neem, and other trees native to their homeland, the diverse gardeners profiled by Patricia Klindienst have learned to heal personal pain by sowing the earth. Their stories of redemption are as beautiful as the land they work."
"The book is a surprise underground hit, the word going out across gardening maillists and websites. And no wonder. Klindienst travels from a garden run by the descendants of slaves to one kept by Pueblo Indians in New Mexico, a Punjabi woman's garden and those of Japanese and Italian and Khmer migrants. She ends in a Yankee's garden, and brings his gift of ancestral corn seeds to the Indians whose culture his own ancestors had ravaged"
"G'Day. Just finished reading this book from the library, and I usually hesitate to use words like "inspirational" but in this case t'is true. Full of stories of people and their gardens, and all the layers of meaning and significance that are embodied in the act of gardening, of saving seed. Altho it is from America, here in Oz we share a similar migrant narrative; the first garden and gardener we meet is a Native American, and from there people from across the globe that have settled in U.S. It is a really fascinating book, it was published a couple of years ago, and I'm even considering buying it, as the people and their gardens in the book are ones that I would like to visit again. Hope you give it a go and enjoy it too. Cheers"
"Patricia Klindienst's The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans is the kind of book that makes your heart swell with happiness that someone else on this ridiculous blue green planet cares about the things you care about."
"Strange, moving, beautiful."
"Incredible book, easy to read, each chapter is a story unto itself. I learned so much about responsible stewardship of the earth through the people and their gardens and their passion for growing good food."
