The Unseasonable Gardener: Recent Episodes
JULIA ISTOMINA
A creative place to celebrate mistakes, adventures, and personal stories related to all things that grow. Stories about the plants we love, mourn, and are inspired by from family, friends, and friendly gardening experts. Unseasonable, like unreasonable, this podcast is not about making it perfect, doing it right, or even having the best reasons. It's about finding the beauty in the singularity of each thing that grows or resists. Visit The Unseasonable Gardener blog to explore written and visual content like photo essays, poetry, and Q&A! https://theunseasonablegardener.wordpress.com/
In this episode, I chat with Colin Pearson - innkeeper, gardener, grandson, and unofficial historian of the historic Stanton House Inn - about the utility of “invasive species” and the dynamic history of broader U.S. landscapes. Roses, apples, corn: these are just some of the oldest plants that are actually “invasives” to Native American lands in the Northern American region, and of course have been domesticated through mass production and poetics alike. This is a very special episode as it is the first one out of town, where I had the privilege and delight of chatting with Colin Pearson who grew up at The Stanton House Inn and now manages the luscious, expansive, diverse resident gardens.
The Stanton House Inn was built in 1843, and "this landmark building has served as a private mansion, veteran’s home, hotel, and boarding house. It has been in the Pearson family for generations, who restored it to a romantic Greenwich, CT, bed and breakfast in 1985." Romantic, idyllic, peaceful, with the best of the best in terms of the quality of comfort and service, it's my favorite place to escape too if my credit card allows it. A well of knowledge about the Inn that has been in his family for generations, Colin reveals secrets and juicy historical tidbits about plants, food production, landscaping, and how to keep your neighbor from eating your tomatoes.
Join us and I know you will find new ways to think about the language of invasion, domestication, growth, and companionship. And more, Colin cites fantastic books that make this podcast a top summer reading list as well! Just as natural as this conversation that, due to technical computer difficulties on my part, was recorded in the Stanton Inn garden stone alcove via Zoom on my iPhone. I just couldn’t bear to trim any bit of it, so here you have it, unfiltered and physically inside the topic of the conversation.
Growing up in Staten Island, Mary Wood-Gauthier started (unsuccessfully) with seeds. Now she has a Midsummer Night's Dream gazebo and porch, and an ethos of care - start small, for yourself, or for others, and try to find the joy. Also featured: hospital flower best practices if you're sending some, especially for new mothers!
Join us for a foray into urban wilderness, explorations of the draw toward wandering and feeling the need for anchoring, eco-feminist poetry, and a reading of an original (and recent!) poem, "Woodland Fever," with Melinda K. Wilson. Dr. Wilson is a published poet, critic, and essayist, founding editor and current managing editor of Coldfront Mag, and curator of the Poor Mouth Writer's Night reading series in Bronx, NYC. "I'm all nightshade / and lady slippers."
In this episode, I chat with my mom about the red and black currant berries so popular in Russia and in both of our cultural memories. We chat about why it is so uncommon in the U.S. (it was banned for the larger part of the twentieth century), and my mom shares her stories about growing and enjoying these small, tart, jammy berries, tied with her memories of her parents and the traditional Russian dacha.
Listen in as my dearest friend and I chat about garden histories and the anticipation of a first garden, that must, by Dr. Harris's account, be utilitarian.