Women and Plants: I'm a woman who's made a good portion of her career in the field of horticulture, specifically in the journalism end of the plant world. But until I read the new book “The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants,” I hadn't really visualized myself as part of something quite the way that I see in its pages.
A lot of gardening, and especially writing, is done on one’s own as a solitary pursuit, but the book brings to life a sense of community and common purpose among the woman portrayed, despite their different career choices—from research scientist to floral designer to operating a seed company and more—and despite the fact that they hail from around the globe.
Jennifer Jewell is author of "The Earth in Her Hands" and is also the creator of the popular "Cultivating Place" podcast, produced with North State Public Radio in Chico, California. We talked about some of the women profiled in it, from seed experts Renee Shepherd and Ira Wallace, to Annie Hayes of Annie's Annuals mail-order plant nursery, to activists like Vandana Shiva and in a different way, Debra Prinzing.
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