Skip to content »

Just the Facts Book Group Banner

We talked about plants

Our discussion of "The botany of desire" was lively and diverse, like the subjects of the book. Apples and Johnny Appleseed, for example. What did he bring to the vast frontier of our growing United States? Alcohol, made into hard cider or applejack. Did this make frontier life easier? At least the settlers had something to drink...local water sources not being so clean or accessible. Another thing Appleseed did was to spread the diversity of apples, which can't be planted from seed. They use (cloned) grafted saplings instead. Later, the apple made for "healthy" eating, rather than hard cider, thanks to Prohibition. Today's apples bear little resemblance to the apples of yesteryear, though some antiques still survive. Much like tulips. Tulip mania took over Holland centuries ago, where the more outrageous the tulip, the more money the bulbs were worth. The Dutch developed a sort of commodities market, trading on tulip futures. Then that market crashed...

The author had a little adventure he wrote about in the section on marijuana. As an experiment, he planted some seeds, thinking very little would come of them. He got two plants that grew to over 8 feet, and had to chop them down when the police chief of his town came to deliver some firewood. This was in the 70's so likely the penalty he would have suffered upon being found out would have been benign, unlike today. He also talked about the link between pot, and other drugs and religious ceremonies, none of which he partook of! Our book finished off with a section on potatoes, and the invasion of genetically modified potatoes (and other foods) into our food chain. Are GMO"s good, or evil? They won't be going away anytime soon, and the possible effects on humans won't be known for a while either. He also talked about GMO farming versus organic farming, where the farmer does the hard work, but can sell his food and get a higher price. Hopefully organics won't become a thing only for the 1%.

This was an insightful book, and got us to have a thoughtful discussion. We liked it.

Add new comment

777 Front Street Lisle, IL 60532 | Phone: 630-971-1675 | Fax: 630-971-1701 | Hours: M-F 9:30am-9:00pm, SAT 9:30am-5:00pm, SUN 1:00pm-5:00pm