Nabhan, an ethnobotanist, cofounder of Native Seeds/SEARCH, and prolific author, draws on his longtime relationships with the land and people of the Southwest U.S., together with wisdom from farmers and gardeners in Egypt, Mexico, and other dry places, to suggest solutions for growing food and developing agricultural resiliency as climate change affects wider swaths of the planet. He discusses using hedge fences (he calls them “fredges”) to minimize flood damage; choosing ancient and traditional methods for water management; soil building using local materials; terracing for fertility and erosion control; creating polycultures with perennials and drought-hardy plants; and attracting and supporting native pollinators. This information, which includes detailed instructions and lists of plants and pollinators, will undoubtedly be useful to farmers and gardeners facing more volatile weather patterns. Their spirits may lift as well with the book’s somber but hopeful poetic tone, exemplified by Moroccan Sufi mystic and farmer Aziz Bousfiha, who is working to transform deserts into living oases: “It’s not just activism I am talking about… I am talking about something larger, deeper: participating in the creation—for that is the… expression of our love.” (June 20)
Related Posts
In the already-scorching Southwest, a group of scientists, ranchers and farmers are figuring out how to adapt the current agricultural…
Amy Frykholm interviews Gary Nabhan Ethnobotanist and ecumenical Franciscan brother Gary Nabhan has written more than 30 books about food,…
I am writing to ask that you rescind all Department of Defense and Treasury fundsfor building more of the border wall.My name is Gary Paul Nabhan and I am an Ecumenical Franciscan Brother whohas lived and worked on the U.S./Mexico border as a seasonal park ranger, farmer,conservational biologist and facilitator of interfaith and intertribal gatherings since 1978.
At least forty-seven species of birds that recently depended upon spring-fed habitats have not been recorded at the Quitobaquito oasis in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument since the border wall construction began nearly a year ago.
Like most Americans, we have been sickened by the sights and sounds of children torn away from their families at…
As an agricultural biologist, ethnobiologist and author, Gary Paul Nabhan is a renowned pioneer in the local food movement. In…
The U.S. — and Arizona, more specifically — has countless environmental challenges, including keeping our air and water clean, ensuring…
Were you among the many citizens of southern Arizona who were caught off guard upon hearing that a designation for…
The only job description that fully fit with his temperament and enormous skill set was that of being in exuberant…
Border communities, Native Americans and experts want the president to reverse damage done by construction under Trump Border communities and…
When I heard of Lincoln Brower’s passing, I remembered how I dreamed that my father had turned into a monarch…
When President Trump initiated his trade tariff wars with China a year ago, economists warned that it could precipitate the…
forty days of fearing the worst could be happening worlds falling apart hospitals filling their beds loved ones barely breathing…
When Gary Nabhan was growing up in the Indiana Dunes, Indiana, he remembered being sleepy in the middle of his…
Fences and walls erected along international boundaries in the name of national security have unintended but significant consequences for biodiversity…