Growing Home: Stories of Ethnic Gardening

By Susan Davis Price

Book Overview

A lavishly illustrated look at the extraordinary creations of Minnesota gardeners from around the world.

This beautiful book brings together interviews and photographs of more than thirty Minnesotans who have imported the style and tradition of their native or ancestral lands into their gardening. Susan Davis Price relates the fascinating stories of these people's lives as she explores gardening techniques and plants brought from every part of the globe.

We meet Finnish-born Maiju K ntii, who cultivates the beautiful roses of her homeland, and Polish native Danuta Mazurek, who manages to grow the colorful, leafy alpines of the old country in her small urban yard. John Maire moved to Minnesota from the Sudan and has encouraged many fellow Africans to reconnect to communal life through the Immigrant Farmers Coalition and a group farm located near Elk River. Next to their downtown Minneapolis high-rise, a group of Korean Americans grows a Peace Garden, which includes wild sesame and the lovely and edible Chinese bellflower.

The profiles in Growing Home also feature American-born citizens who use their gardening as a link to their cultural past. Minnesota native Kevin Oshima yearned for a connection to his Japanese heritage and eventually earned the title "bonsai master" for his success in growing these temperamental trees. Seitu Jones considers his attempt to keep the city green a tribute to "all the marvelous, unsung black folks who've been gardening for years."

Well over one hundred beautiful color images highlight this unique look at how ordinary people create the extraordinary in their own backyards. Growing Home will delight not only gardeners but also readers of all backgrounds and interests.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816633053
• ISBN13: 9780816633050
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 10.1" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

A splendid gift for gardeners

With a text that glows as brightly as the book's sumptuous photography, Growing Home is a triumphant celebration of "diversity." But Ms. Price's work is far from mere political correctness; every page is warmed by her deeply felt sense of community with her subjects. From the Russian-born botanist who declares that gardening "is my soul" to the Hmong mother preserving her Laotian heritage and feeding her extended family, these men and women represent "a vast, invisible network of people living full, well-integrated lives." Their serenity and common sense testify that "even in the midst of a culture nourished on fast foods and hurried entertainments, it is still possible to live in concord with the rhythms of the earth." Beautifully designed and produced, the book is a perfect gift for any garden enthusiast...I love it.

Every garden tells a story.

Growing Home is a real treasure of a book. Price has profiled a very diverse group of "transplanted" gardeners--mostly immigrants--who use gardening as a way of maintaining connections between their ethnic and cultural roots and their present-day lives in Minnesota. The profiles effectively turn the subjects' gardens into windows on their life stories, revealing the broader cultural meaning behind the simple act of tending a plot of land. Price skillfully balances the botanical, historical, and culinary backgrounds of the gardeners she profiles, and John Gregor's photographs are beautiful on their own. I think this book's stunning layouts and engaging stories make its appeal extend far beyond the world of Minnesota gardeners.