Recent reading

[luzula]

Köksträdgården – det gröna arvet by Lena Israelsson (1996)
This is a book about gardening that I've picked up I don't remember where, and which has just been standing unread in my bookcase waiting for its moment. And wow, it was a gem! It is not just a random book with vegetable gardening advice, but also looks at the history of gardening in Sweden. Its thesis is that the golden age of popular vegetable gardening was the 19th century, and it's all been downhill from there. Comparing seed catalogs from 1895 and 1995, the former contains so many more varieties, many of which are now lost. There are also many species of vegetables that were commonly grown then, which are not grown now. I think it has gotten better in the almost 30 years since this book has been published, since I can find sources online for many of the plants she had difficulty getting hold of then. (My sister actually works with this kind of stuff at the Nordic gene bank--her job is growing plants to renew the seed stocks of the gene bank. I look forward to talking more with her about it.)

Moonfleet by J Meade Falkner (1895)
I listened to the Librivox audiobook, which I actually liked better than the professional one. This is a children's adventure story set in the mid-18th century, which garonne recced. There are smugglers, a lost diamond, getting locked into a church vault, hiding from the law, etc! It might be said to have something in common with Kidnapped, since it's about a young man having adventures with an older one, but this one doesn't have a slashy vibe in my opinion. I felt bad for that older man, since he really suffered from the main character’s bad decisions and sacrificed himself for him! Although I suppose there was also one moment where he was held back from making a bad decision.

I have also read the D K Broster story The Winning Side from 1906 (thanks, theseatheseatheopensea!) which is not in any of her collections. It is classic Broster set during the French Revolution, with a French aristocrat who has pragmatically joined the revolutionary side, encountering his despised illegitimate brother who is a royalist. I was delighted to encounter a very specific plot element which she would later reuse in Flight of the Heron! And quite enjoyed the story.

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

That gardening book sounds fascinating! What, out of curiosity, are some of the out-of-fashion vegetables?

[luzula]

Well, some examples of leafy vegetables are Rumex patienta (patience dock), Hablitzia thamnoides (Caucasian spinach), Atriplex hortensis (garden orache). Some onions are Allium fistulosum (bunching onion) and Allium cepa solaninum (could not find English name). Some root vegetables are Stachys affinis (artichoke betony), Tragopogon porrifolius (salsify), Chaerophyllum bulbosum (parsnip chervil), Sium sisarum (skirret).

Most of these have more than one English name. It seems that vegetable gardening was quite internationally influenced in this period--several of these plants are Asian, and obviously European vegetable gardening was enriched earlier than the 19th century by American plants.

[chestnut_pod]

That’s fascinating! I’ve genuinely never heard of the majority.

[china_shop]

That gardening book sounds very cool.

Comparing seed catalogs from 1895 and 1995, the former contains so many more varieties, many of which are now lost. There are also many species of vegetables that were commonly grown then, which are not grown now.

:-( (Glad to hear you think it's getting better, though!)

[luzula]

Well, it's getting better as well as it can when so many varieties are lost! Although I guess new varieties can also be developed. But the author is also very negative towards F1 hybrids, since they cannot be propagated by the gardener. She's a big fan of harvesting seeds yourself, though of course this is more difficult with biannual plants like carrots.

[regshoe]

History of popular vegetable gardening sounds like a fascinating subject! What are some of the vegetable species that were grown in 19th century Sweden that usually aren't now?

*goes to download Moonfleet*

I don't think I've actually read 'The Winning Side' yet—I must get to it at some point, and I look forward to seeing what plot device recurs from FotH :D

[luzula]

Well, some examples of leafy vegetables are Rumex patienta (patience dock), Hablitzia thamnoides (Caucasian spinach), Atriplex hortensis (garden orache). Some onions are Allium fistulosum (bunching onion) and Allium cepa solaninum (could not find English name). Some root vegetables are Stachys affinis (artichoke betony), Tragopogon porrifolius (salsify), Chaerophyllum bulbosum (parsnip chervil), Sium sisarum (skirret).

Most of these have more than one English name. It seems that vegetable gardening was quite internationally influenced in this period--several of these plants are Asian, and obviously European vegetable gardening was enriched earlier than the 19th century by American plants.

I look forward to seeing what plot device recurs from FotH :D
You'll know it immediately. : D

[regshoe]

Oh, cool—that is a variety! I have heard of some of those but I don't think I've ever eaten any of them.

[garonne]

I always think of Moonfleet and Kidnapped as a matched set; they're both adventure stories set in Britain in the 1750s, written in the late 19th century, with a young male protagonist, and a strong central relationship at the core of the plot. The relationships have very different vibes, obviously (the Kidnapped one being potentially slashy IMO and the Moonfleet one not) but the rest feels so similar.

I started reading Lorna Doone recently, hoping to find the same fast-paced-Victorian-adventure-novel-with-young-male-protagonist-set-in-previous-century, but I'm finding it super slow and stodgy...

That gardening book sounds so cool!

[luzula]

I came across them in different circumstances, so I don't think of them as a matched set. But obviously Moonfleet did make me think of Kidnapped! Though I don't have the emotional attachment to Moonfleet that I do to Kidnapped. By the way, the Moonfleet author is not afraid of letting actions have consequences: my god, 10 years of penal labor!