the average number of extremely hot days is projected to triple from

00 From the EditorMolly Jones

01 News Missy Jensen and Linda Fraser report from the Conservation and NAL Committees

02 Climate Change - Action vs. InactionNew EPA Report Offers Support for Global Action

03 Everyday ThingsFloral foam; the invisible hazard

04 Call to ActionThree Texas garden clubs work together on the Longleaf Pine Restoration Project at the Big Thicket National Preserve

05 NAL Issues to WatchPending Legislation: Clean Power Plan, Clean Water Rule, Toxic Chemicals & Substances Act, Stream Protection Rule, Land and Water Conservation Fund

06 Reading and ResourcesA review of From the Ground Up: A Food Grower's Education in Love, and the Movement That’s Changing the Nation by Jeanne Nolan

Pollinator Resource List compiled by Kathy Jones. A comprehensive in-depth guide to all things pollination-related

ConWatchGarden Club of America • August / September 2015

“ The average number of extremely hot days is projected to triple from 2050-2100.”

https://www.gcamerica.org/index.cfm/members:main/getprotectedfile?contentpageresource/pollinatorresourcelist1.pdf

Home From the Editor News Climate Change Everyday Things Call to Action NAL Issues to Watch Reading & Resources

From the Editor by Molly Jones

The Geography of Hope

There is a term, coined by Wallace Stegner, “the geography of hope,” that resonates strongly with me as I take on this

new job as editor of ConWatch. As in any new job, there are both surprises and setbacks, and at some point one has to ask, “Why am I doing this?” My answer comes from Stegner’s description of the landscape in the 1960 “Wilderness Letter:”

“We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope.”

He goes on to say, 20 years later: “I was prepared to argue for the preservation of wilderness not simply as a scientific reserve, or a land-bank, or a playground, but as a spiritual resource, a leftover from our frontier origins that could reassure us of our identity as a nation and a people.”

My personal geography of hope includes not only the peace I find in the wilderness, but also encompasses the motivation to connect with something larger than personal enjoyment of the landscape. ConWatch offers a place for our collective voice as we work for clean

water, clean air, healthy food, and open and wild spaces. ConWatch offers the opportunity to engage our clubs and members and inspire action as we all seek to define what constitutes our own geography of hope.

With this issue we have tried to enrich reader experience by including links to lots of interesting and complemen-

tary information and ways in which readers can become active participants in conservation activities. We feature

articles from around the country on climate change, a thought-provoking product review of floral foam, inspir-ing Texas clubs that work together in the Big Thicket National Preserve, and important and time-sensitive

legislative updates. Readers’ ideas, contributions, and suggestions are welcome, as are requests for additional

information on any of the subjects presented, and may be emailed to the Editor.

ConWatch, a publication of the Garden Club of America, is produced by the GCA Conservation and NAL Committees.

Molly Jones, The Portland Garden Club, Zone XII, is the current editor of ConWatch.

mailto:pdxmolly%40mac.com?subject=To%20the%20Editor


News by Missy Jensen & Linda Fraser

From Conservation and NAL Committees

Not long ago a speaker at NAL cited statistics about how few articles printed in the major newspapers were written about

environmental issues. Since then two things have changed dra-matically. Now we read daily about food production, water and air quality, effects of extreme weather, and parks and public land is-sues. In addition, we are now able to read, follow, and share fantastic amounts of information in digital rather than printed form.

Through our work in GCA, we are communicating with-in and reaching out from our own organization, and are finding it more important than ever to focus our educa-tional and legislative efforts to remain relevant and effective.

GCA has an impressive history and a century of experience in working to preserve the natural environment, and we will continue to evolve. If you have not read it, The History of Conservation in the Garden Club of America tells the story of our past and how we have embraced the conservation movement decade by decade. In the coming year we will continue with Pollinators which has been wildly successful, cover the critical and timely climate change issues, and launch a new initiative in October. Stay tuned about a celebration!

Our Conservation Committee and NAL Committee Members are superb at producing high quality information and we are asking ourselves how we can better reach and meet the needs of the clubs. This will be part of our discussions at our first meeting in the

fall. Some of the things we are doing to be more effective are realigning the subjects of the Vice Chairmenmen

to cover all topical and legislative information, rede-signing ConWatch and Conservation Showcase, and offering models to Clubs for events or sympo-siums.

I encourage you to contact Conservation and NAL Committee Members when you need ideas or informa-

tion. Feel free to contact and engage the Vice Chairmen-men in their subject of expertise. Please email Missy and Linda with your questions, comments and feedback about the issues you feel are important.

Missy Jensen, Carmel-by -the-Sea Garden Club, Zone XII; Conservation Committee Chairmen

Linda Fraser, Southampton Garden Club, Zone III; National Affairs and Legislation Committee Chairmen

https://www.gcamerica.org/index.cfm/members:publications/details/id/28

https://www.gcamerica.org/index.cfm/members:publications/details/id/28

mailto:missy%40jdjensen.com?subject=ConWatch%20questions%20and%20comments

mailto:lflawyer%40aol.com?subject=ConWatch%20questions%20and%20comments


Climate Change by Sharon Malt

Action vs. Inaction: New EPA Report Offers Support for Global Action

Anyone who lived through the northeast’s horrendous 2015 winter, or who is coping with this summer’s wildfires, droughts

or sustained heat waves will want to take a look at the EPA re-port published this June entitled, “Climate Change in the United States, Benefits of Global Action.”

The report is a thought-provoking analysis of CIRA, the Climate Change Impacts and Risk Analysis project coordinated by the EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs. Done in collaboration with scientific and independent consulting organizations and exten-sively peer-reviewed, the CIRA report is user- friendly in language and presentation. It can be read and downloaded as a summary, by region, or in its entirety from here.

While the study is data-driven, there is a certain crystal ball ap-proach in its narrative and many graphs that gives the reader not only the tools to understand the magnitude of present-day climate change impacts on the continental United States but invites read-ers to visualize and assess potential future scenarios resulting from the world’s unmitigated dependence on fossil fuels.

METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE Contrasting the benefits of action and the consequences of inaction in addressing green house gas (GHG) reductions, the study places a stake in the sand today and then zeroes in on the years 2050 and 2100 as milestones for its

DAMAGES PREDICTED IF GLOBAL MITIGATION DOES NOT TAKE PLACE:

■ The average number of extremely hot days is pro-jected to triple from 2050-2100

■ The atmosphere will contain 826 ppm with a mean temperature increase of 9 degrees by 2100

■ By 2100 Chicago summer temperatures will feel more like New Orleans in the summer

■ By 2100 mean sea level rise in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Eastern Seaboard could reach 56"

■ The risk costs to infrastructure, human health, labor and to farms and forests is estimated in the trillions of dollars

http://www.epa.gov/cira



metrics and analysis. While its authors acknowledge that their study of seven sectors of climate effects is somewhat limited in scope, they are able to illustrate a compelling and consistent story of how the choices we make today will affect our children, grand-children and generations to come. These sectors are health, in-frastructure, electricity, water resources, agriculture, forestry and eco systems in the continental U.S. (The alignment with GCA’s position papers should be noted!).

ADAPTATION The CIRA report also covers the role of ‘adaptation’ in reducing overall damages to resources and the built environ-ment such as shoring up coastal properties, rehabilitating coral reefs and addressing urban infrastructure as sea levels rise and ocean salinization intensifies. However, it warns us that in order for adaptation to be an effective solution, it must be timely, well ex-ecuted and socially just. The report casts doubts that our country’s underfunded cities are capable of meeting necessary goals and tactics for adaptive preparedness.

NATURE OF CLIMATE CHANGE MEETS MOTHER NATURE Per-haps the most sober message in the CIRA report is acknowledge-ment that climate in itself is very complex and is influenced by many uncertain factors which make predictions difficult. While this may constitute fodder for climate change deniers, the EPA wisely points out that GHG mitigation and adaptation are the only scenar-ios that humans have control over. Just as it took the United

PROJECTED BENEFITS OF GLOBAL GHG MITIGATION ACTION:

■ 40-59% fewer severe extreme droughts by 2100

■ Significant recovery of U.S. oyster, scallop and clam populations and revival of thousands of acres of fresh water fish habitat

■ 6 million fewer acres of wild fire destruction

■ $10-35 billion in savings on power system costs and lower demand nationally

■ Savings of billions in adaptation costs of sewers, bridges and other urban infrastructure

■ Vast improvement of California water supply

■ Better air and water quality nationwide



States almost two centuries of industrial GHG emissions to get us to our present day dilemma, action today will produce gradual healing that will be more evident in 2100 than in 2050. While action plus patience will be rewarded, doing nothing will be catastrophic.

Bottom line is that the sooner the U.S (allying with countries across the globe) gets started on a path to reduce GHG emis-

sions in a meaningful and sustained way, the better off future gen-erations will be in all seven sectors of the study. Notably, the study quantifies anticipated social, labor, economic and environmental benefits that come from mitigation as well as costs to society if business as usual continues.

Let’s hope that global leaders at the Climate Summit later this year will take the CIRA report, as well as the reams of other conclusive climate change data and physical evidence, to heart to create and implement the policies and actions needed for global GHG mitiga-tion. As this EPA study powerfully documents, it is in our power to do so for the welfare and benefit of future generations. ■

Sharon Malt, Beacon Hill Garden Club, Boston, Massachusetts,

Zone 1; Vice Chairmen of the Conservation Study Trip, Conser-vation Committee.

Photos: Below; Sharon Malt. Top, and all other photos in this issue unless noted; Molly Jones


Everyday Things by Joan Cathcart

Floral Foam: Friendly or Frightening?

There’s a blooming awareness among floral arrangers, profes-sional and amateur, that there are better and healthier me-

diums for preserving an arrangement than the ubiquitous green bricks of floral foam, conmmonly known as Oasis. Developed and trademarked by Ohio-based Smithers-Oasis sixty years ago, the light, open-celled, green foam product with water absorbancy, flower stem support, and water-holding, capillary benefits proved easy to use and very helpful in making and preserving arrange-ments.

It quickly gained popularity as the product of choice for all levels of arrangers. However, floral foam has gained notoriety in recent years because, like Styrofoam, it never disappears and is not bio-degradable. Furthermore, floral foam has proven dangerous as it contains small but measurable toxic elements which can irritate eyes, nose, and upper respiratory systems, as well as being poten-tially carcinogenic. Florists are most at-risk because of their con-stant exposure, but even occasional users should be concerned.

Taking into account the “forever” aspect of floral foam as well as its toxicity issues, consumers are pushing the company to include safe usage information in all its packaging.

Published only online, the Smithers-Oasis Co.’s Material Safety Data Sheet (“MSDS”) contains the following precautions:

■ Use in well-ventilated areas.

■ Do not store in hot enclosures where off-gassing of resid-ual formaldehyde may result.

■ Wash thoroughly with soap & water after using.

■ Use gloves &/or safety glasses as precaution.

and lists the following ingredients:

■ Barium sulfate

■ Formaldehyde*

■ Carbon black*

*irritant to eyes, nose, and respiratory organs

Smithers-Oasis has heard the complaints. It is marketing a new Oasis Floral Foam Maxlife claiming a 37% decomposition rate within 110 days in biologically active landfill conditions. Touting enhanced biodegradability, the company’s website says that floral foam is environmentally neutral as it degrades. However, Maxlife's degradation occurs over an unknown period of time—more than 100 years.

http://www.fdionline.net/fdi/public/files/msds/SO-Oasis_Floral_Foam_2009.pdf

http://www.fdionline.net/fdi/public/files/msds/SO-Oasis_Floral_Foam_2009.pdf


Everyday Things by Joan Cathcart

Floral Foam: Friendly or Frightening?

As part of a larger movement in the floral design community worldwide, many are becoming more aware of alternatives in

how they source flowers and what materials they use to arrange them. Many are moving back to chicken wire, pebbles, twigs, sand, marbles, old-fashioned flower frogs, and trying new products, such as Floral Soil, a 100% plant–based foam from Mt.Baker Bio.

Concerned florists, floral writers and champions of the “Local Flower” movement, such as Debra Prinzing of Slow Flowers and 50-Mile Bouquet fame, are also promoting these new, “old”, ways of arranging flowers. They look at the entire life-cycle of flowers in the bigger context of safely preserving flowers, their growers, arrangers, and recipients, as well as the earth itself. A related con-cern they share is the thousands of miles traveled by many of to-day’s blooms from South America and South Africa, grown under unregulated conditions, possibly using pesticides and chemical preservatives.

Many flower bloggers are promoting environmentally friend-ly flower sourcing and arranging. Some sites & articles:

■ Hands-on alternatives to floral foam

■ Ann Waldman's Personal Journey Away from Floral Foam

■ Green Floristry from Good Old Days Eco Florist, NY

■ Field to Vase”, Local Flower Movement, California

■ EHow.com article on floral foam toxicity

■ Just how Green is Floral Foam?

Joan Cathcart, of the Pasadena Garden Club, Zone XII, is the current Assistant Editor of ConWatch.

http://www.floralsoilsolutions.com

http://www.mtbakerbio.com

www.debraprinzing.com

http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/eco-friendly-flower-arranging/7924.html

http://wizmosis.com/Ann_Waldman.pdf

http://goodolddaysflorist.com/green/green-floristry/

http://fieldtovase.com

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7273232_florists-foam-toxicity.html

http://floriography.com.au/index.php/2013/05/q-just-how-green-is-floral-foam/

Pinus palustris, By Margaret Stones, Native Flora of

Louisiana Watercolor Drawings, E.A. McIlhenny Natural History Collection,

courtesy of LSU Libraries Special Collections.

Elizabeth Waddill, Magnolia Garden Club, Beaumont, Texas, Zone IX; Vice Chairmen, National Parks


Call To Action by Elizabeth Waddill

Longleaf Pine Reforestation Project

For the past five years, volunteers from The Magnolia Garden Club, The River Oaks Garden Club and The Garden Club of Houston have devoted

MLK day in January to participate in the National Park Conservation Associa-tion's (NPCA) Longleaf Pine Restoration Project at the Big Thicket National Preserve. These GCA members, along with other community volunteers, have planted thousands of seedlings in the Preserve to reforest the longleaf pine which was a predominant, upland forest species that has been prac-tically eliminated in East Texas.The park’s goal is to work with partners to restore the longleaf forest. We love our dibble bars*!

This year we will help reforest a 300 acre area of longleaf pine habitat in the Big Sandy Creek Unit by planting 100,000 seedlings in 2016 with other vol-unteers. Longleaf pine provide critical habitat for many native animals and plants including red-cockaded woodpeckers, Louisiana pine snakes, and Texas trailing phlox. ■

What is a Dibble Bar?

* a small, hand-held, pointed implement, a dibble, for making holes in soil for planting seeds, seedlings,

bulbs, etc. A dibble is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground for planting. The dibble was first

recorded in Roman times and has remained mostly unchanged. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,

farmers would use long-handled dibbles of metal or wood to plant crops. One man would walk with a dibble

making holes, and a second man would plant seeds in each hole and fill it in. It was not until the Renaissance

that dibbles became a manufactured item, some made of iron for penetrating harder soils and clay. See how

to use one here.

http://www.nps.gov/bith/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/bith/index.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_palustris

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_palustris

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-cockaded_Woodpecker/id

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_pinesnake

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/texas/explore/texas-by-nature-texas-trailing-phlox.xml

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUzeruQT8xE


NAL Issues to Watch by Suzanne-Booker Canfield, Ph.D.

Policy and Legislation to Watch

CLEAN POWER PLANWHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS

In August 2015, U.S. EPA recently unveiled the final draft of its Clean Power Plan, a regulation that imposes the first-ever feder-

al limits on greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, the single biggest emitters of carbon pollution in the nation. By 2030, the plan would reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per-cent while decreasing soot and smog by 25 percent. States could either chart their own paths to the emissions standard or could adopt the federal plan as outlined by the EPA.

TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN POWER PLAN, YOU CAN . . .

■ Call or write legislators asking them to oppose any effort to delay or block the Clean Power Plan, whether from standalone legislation such as S.1324, the Affordable Reliable Electricity Now Act of 2015 (ARENA Act), also known as the ARENA Act, from policy riders attached to appropriations bills, or from a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution (a rarely used procedure designed to overturn executive branch regulations).

■ Call or write your governor to express your support of the Clean Power Plan.

■ For more details, see Clean Power Plan Legislative Update .

■ Use social media.

ESTIMATED TIME FRAME - Fall 2015 (before September 30th for spending bill policy riders)

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO EFFECT CHANGE ■ Email your Congressperson or Senator directly. Email addresses for your elected Representatives in D.C. can be obtained at: https://www.congress.gov/members.

■ If you have a Twitter account, you can see what your member of Congress has been tweeting about the Clean Power Plan, LWCF and the EPA Clean Water Rule. Respond at: http://govsm.com/w/House or http://govsm.com/w/Senate

https://www.gcamerica.org/_uploads/filemanager/publicationsresource/LU114.3.pdf

https://www.congress.gov/members.

http://govsm.com/w/House or http://govsm.com/w/Senate

http://govsm.com/w/House or http://govsm.com/w/Senate




CLEAN WATER RULEWHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS

In May 2015, U.S. EPA finalized the Clean Water Rule to ensure that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more pre-

cisely defined. In particular, the rule is designed to protect streams and wetlands from pollution and degradation. Such protection affects the 117 million Americans who get drinking water from streams that lacked clear protection before the rule, as the the result of two Supreme Court cases that caused regulatory uncer-tainty. After an extensive public comment period, the EPA incorpo-rated both the peer-reviewed science and the feedback from in-dustry—particularly agriculture—to protect America’s waters while making the permitting process faster, easier, and less expensive for industry. Despite significant changes to address industry con-cern, some groups staunchly oppose the Clean Water Rule. Op-ponents on Capitol Hill will be using individual legislation as well as Congressional Review Act disapproval resolutions to try to stop the rule.

TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN WATER RULE, YOU CAN . . .

■ Call or write legislators asking them to oppose any ef-fort to delay or block the Clean Water Rule, whether from standalone legislation, from policy riders attached to spending bills, or from a Congressional Review Act dis-approval resolution.

■ For more details, see Clean Water Rule Legislative Update.



https://www.gcamerica.org/index.cfm/members:publications/publicationdetails/pid/409




LAND & WATER CONSERVATION FUND (LWCF)WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS

Year after year, GCA members have asked their legislators to support full, permanent funding of the Land and Water Con-

servation Fund. Since its creation in 1965, it’s served as the pri-mary funding source for federal land acquisitions for conservation and recreation purposes. The Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Forest Service all rely on LWCF funds. The program is authorized for $900 million annually from royalties paid by oil and gas companies for offshore drilling. The idea was to take a small portion of the money made from depleting one natural resource and apply it toward the acqui-sition of another natural resource. The LWCF, however, has only been fully funded once. Moreover, there has been continual pres-sure to use LWCF funds for purposes other than those intended. The LWCF authorization is set to expire on September 30, 2015.

The good news is that there is now strong bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress. The bad news is that the Senate’s full LWCF funding provision is in the Energy Policy and Modernization Act of 2015, which contains language that would gut the Clean Power Plan (see above), a regulation considered fundamental

to reducing dangerous carbon pollution. Therefore, despite our longstanding support of full funding of LWCF, we urge senators to strike the anti-Clean Power Plan language from the bipartisan energy bill but retain the full, permanent LWCF funding provision.

TO SUPPORT THE LWCF, YOU CAN . . .

■ Call or write legislators asking them to oppose any ef-fort to delay or block the Clean Water Rule, whether from standalone legislation, from policy riders attached to spending bills, or from a Congressional Review Act dis-approval resolution.

■ For more details, see Clean Water Rule Legislative Update.


ESTIMATED TIME FRAME - Fall 2015




TOXIC CHEMICALS & SUBSTANCES ACT (TSCA) REFORMWHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS

The Toxic Chemicals and Substances Act of 1976 (TSCA) re-mains the only major environmental statute never amended.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle agreed that it’s in dire need of reform, as 80,000 chemicals available in America have never been fully tested. In fact, in June the House passed the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 on a vote of 398-1.

If this uncommon unanimity sounds too good to be true, that may be the case. The Senate version, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chem-ical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697), contains provisions that some environmental groups find troubling. For instance, this bill makes it harder for EPA to require notice before a chemical of concern is imported into the United States in products. It also pre-empts states from taking action while EPA is assessing a chemical but has not actually exonerated or regulated it. This bill is likely to pass, but it’s important to let your senators know your thoughts while cosponsors can still make changes. In addition, once the reconciliation of the House and Senate bills begins, it will be im-portant to push for the committee to drop the most troubling pro-

visions in both bills and to avoid a situation in which the final bill combines the worst portions of both.

TO SUPPORT TSCA REFORM, YOU CAN . . .

■ Call or write senators asking them to strengthen the en-vironmental safeguards, not to make it harder for EPA to require notice when a chemical of concern is imported. Ask them not to prohibit states from taking action while EPA is assessing a chemical.

■ Ask them to favor the House version of the bill during the reconciliation process.


ESTIMATED TIME FRAME - Fall 2015




STREAM PROTECTION RULEWHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS

In July 2015, the U.S. Department of the Interior issued the long-awaited draft of its Stream Protection Rule to regulate moun-

taintop-removal mining, the most destructive form of coalmining. In it, mining machines literally rip the tops off mountains and dump the debris (known as “fill”) into the valleys below, polluting streams with dangerous heavy metals that cause serious health conse-quences for citizens who rely on that water. Not toppling moun-tains rich in biodiversity seems like common sense to most Amer-icans. But not dumping the toxic debris into headwaters seems equally obvious.

TO SUPPORT THE STREAM PROTECTION RULE, YOU CAN . . .

■ File a public comment with the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/07/27/2015-17308/stream-protection-rule.

■ State that you support the proposed rulemaking because it provides more clarity and offers better protection to vital water resources, including the fish, wildlife, and hu-mans that rely on these streams.

■ Contact your legislators and urge them not to support anti-Stream Protection Rule legislation or policy riders.



Suzanne-Booker Canfield, Ph.D., Garden Guild of Winnetka, Zone XI; Vice Chairmen, Legislative Update


Book Review by Elizabeth Jenkins

From The Ground Up: A Food Grower’s Education In Life, Love, and the Movement That’s Changing the Nation, by Jeanne Nolan

For those GCA members who saw the movie “It’s Complicat-ed,” who does not dream of its vegetable garden and the lush,

colorful almost pornographic vegetables. This vegetable garden envy has haunted me, especially as some of my North Shore and Chicago friends began creating these amazing abundant organ-ic vegetable gardens in their own backyard. How did they do it? My own attempts at organic vegetable gardening were pathetically anemic.

Then I met Jeanne Nolan. As the program Chairmen a few years back I invited Jeanne to come speak to the Lake Forest Garden Club. Jeanne had started a company called the Organic Gardener Ltd., which worked and works with families, schools, and not for profits to develop gardens that are beautiful,

productive and uniquely suited to their environment, homes and life styles, from suburbia to inner city. These gardens that I cov-eted, from the Edible Garden in Lincoln Park Zoo to my friends’ backyards, were her creations. How she does this and how she came upon this life and career is an enchanting story she recounts in her book, From the Ground Up: A Food Grower’s Education In Life, Love, and the Movement That’s Changing the Nation.

From the Ground Up chronicles Nolan’s journey from a privileged suburban life on the North Shore to a commune she joined at eigh-teen that was centered on organic farming and where she lived and worked for seventeen years until she became disillusioned. Upon returning to her parents’ suburban home as a single mom with few marketable skill she begins to rebuild her life with small steps and the planting of an organic garden in her parents’ back yard. The garden grew abundantly as did her business of installing gardens around Chicago, but not without a lot of hard work, sweat and dirt.

This inspiring memoir shows us both how we can all create utopias in our own backyard or roof top and that a linear tra-

jectory of a path that has been walked by many others before you is not necessarily the way to live life to its fullest and find happi-ness. Jeanne Nolan’s story is not only about the how and why to grow and eat organically but how one’s own life can blossom in the most unanticipated and beautiful ways. ■

Elizabeth Jenkins, Lake Forest Garden Club; Zone XI; Conservation/NAL Zone Representative 2001-2003

the average number of extremely hot days is projected to triple from

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