6 & 9 Nov: 2 recommended books

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

This week, I read two books that were recommended to me by Terri of Markham Farm. Thanks to early darkness tonight, I had time to finish the first of them, an excellent, gripping book I had been reading at bedtime: Astoria by Peter Stark.

I had thought it would be about the early days of the town of Astoria, Oregon.  Instead, it was about the tribulations of the explorers that wealthy John Jacob Astor sent, by land and by sea, to create a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. Their story has been eclipsed by that of Lewis and Clark. I found it more interesting, perhaps because Peter Stark is such a good writer.

My favourite bits:

In a settlement on Mackinack Island:

The French voyageurs are an appealing bunch:

A bit about botanists:

This is where I live!

and…

The travelers by land would not have survived had it not been for the kindness of tribes along the way.

Unfortunately, we all know how unrewarded the tribes were for their kindness.

On the coast, the tribes such as the Chinook lived in comfort:

In the raw settlement that would become Astoria, the settlers did not fare as well:

…followed by a description of their pitiful results.

I had forgotten my history, that at one time this area was under British rule…

..and could have become a part of Canada (I wish it had!) if the story had played out differently.

From the end notes:

I highly recommend this book and intend to read anything else I can find by author Peter Stark.

I read it in good company.

Saturday, 9 November 2019

We had much needed rain.

I did some potting up for my plant sale and then had time to read another book recommended to me by Terri:  Andrea Wulf’s Founding Gardeners, about the gardens of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison.

Just some of my favourite bits, which were many:

Back in America:

Jefferson and his high risk botanizing:

…Oh, for leaders like these:

………

Jefferson:

Madison was ahead of his time about agriculture.

I could not, however, fully admire these men and their gardening and political accomplishments while knowing that the gardens were built on slave labor.  When I read a passage like this…

…I would ask, who built all that? While the fact that the founding fathers owned slaves was mentioned early on, not till the latter part of the book was it made more clear how the gardens were created.

and…

Finally, a chapter toward the end addresses the way the slaves were housed and treated as they created magnificent gardens.  I hope there was some joy in the work but can’t excuse the way the supposedly enlightened founders thought it was acceptable to own people.

I intend to read more by Andrea Wulf, beginning with this book:

Thank you, Terri, for two excellent recommendations!