Summer books that
explore the natural wonders of the planet
The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States
Mark Fiege
(University of Washington Press)
Mark Fiege’s book presents a concept that is as
revolutionary as it is obvious – writing history as if the natural world mattered.
Much in the same way that Howard Zinn infamously recast the American story in A People’s History of the United States of
America by telling it from the perspective of the underdog, Fiege takes a
look at historical events so well-worn they’ve become platitudes and makes them
fresh again. The Professor of History at Colorado State University does so by
revisiting milestones in our nation’s history – including the Salem witch
trials, cotton production and slavery in the South, the Battle of Gettysburg, the
building of transcontinental railroads, the invention of the atomic bomb, the
oil crisis of 1973-74 – and examining them through an environmental lens: how
did the natural world shape these events? How did these events impact the
natural world? What was the dialectical conversation between humankind, culture
and nature that has produced the country we live in today? From sea to shining
sea, America has been built upon a vast landscape bearing an abundance of
natural resources and burnished with sublime beauty, but our shared chronicles often
overlook these natural graces. Fiege aims to widen the scope of our
storytelling for, as William Cronon explains in the Foreword, “There is nothing
in the world – nothing in place or time or history – that is ever outside of
nature or the environment.”
Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Crops
at Home
Colin McCrate &
Brad Halm (Sasquatch)
The co-founders of Seattle Urban Farm Co -- a
nationally-recognized outfit that has helped hundreds of families, schools and
restaurants design and implement urban gardens – share the wisdom they have
accumulated over the years in this overstuffed, lively and personable tome.
From vegetable profiles (when to plant, how much, container suitability,
fertilizing, pests, when and how to harvest, storage and preservation) to
instructions for building a wide variety of beds for all kinds of unusual
urban/suburban spaces, the authors cover all the basics. There are also
sections on making great compost, transplanting, mulching, dealing with disease
and pests and “The Only 11 Tools You’ll Ever Need.” Illustrated with great
photographs on nearly every page, it concludes with an index of useful charts,
lists, calendars and other resources.
Washington’s Channeled Scablands Guide
John Soennichsen (The
Mountaineers Books)
Most people heading eastward across our state – towards a
concert at the Gorge, family in Spokane or the Big Sky spaces of Montana –
cruise at high speeds through what seem like void of central Washington.
Guidebook author and historian John Soennichsen invites us to slow down and
take a closer look at these big empty spaces. The Channeled Scablands –
shrub-steppe plateau terrain that has been carved out by cataclysmic floods
during the Pleistocene epoch – contain coulees, potholes, slot canyons, deep
lakes, erratic boulders, waterfalls, basalt buttes and other natural oddities.
With the recent establishment of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail and
plans for visitor centers and roadside displays, John’s book is a great
companion for anyone wanting to explore this overlooked but fascinating region.
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