Mincing words

This blog is not just about getting back to the garden, even though this year marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, which once defined a generation’s desire to get back to its roots, and now represents the profitable value of nostalgia.

And this is not just a blog to celebrate the Obamas’ attempt to revive that ancient institution, the household vegetable patch. (Unfortunately, that idea ran into some sludge when the feds tested the soil and found worrisome levels of lead, which have since been reduced).

The Garden Salvaged is also about recovering identities and histories that have become lost, forgotten or distorted through the too-close lens of daily life. Our identities stem from our most basic choices: what we eat, how we treat our bodies, who we listen to for advice. And yet, the importance of those decisions often fades into the background amidst the bustle and complexity of our lives.

Hopefully, the stories told on The Garden Salvaged help us to look more closely at the world around us; to find sustenance in our daily rhythms; and to recover the life we imagined, using what’s available.

Though hunting-and-gathering seems anachronistic amidst today’s industrial food complex, the spirit of salvaging persists—gathering the materials to make a home in a chaotic world is as essential as it ever was, even if you don’t want to make a salad from your neighbor’s weedlot.