b'asked & answered FOOD FOR THOUGHTokra and black-eyed peas, thoseor lambsquarters. That is also We need foodwere the three biggies that theyconsidered a weed but, holy for sustenancelatched onto immediately.cow, its as nutritious, if not We also didnt weed ourmore so, than other greens and nutrition, butgardens. So that is one thinglike spinach, collard greens or also as a culturalI would say for gardeners tomustard greens.connection. really think about, because many of the things that pop upDo you have tips for in your garden are edible, [like]people who want to dandelions or henbit. In thestart a home garden? With the understandingspring, my garden is absolutelyYou can use containers. For that different people in yourcovered with henbit, and youpeople in apartments or people audience are coming fromcan eat it.who might have just a little different perspectives, howarea but a lot of sun, they have do you hope readers useWhat is henbit? growing bags now. Just get your book Recovering OurIts green leaves with tiny purplesome growing bags and good Ancestors Gardens? blossoms. You probably get it allsoil and try to get non-GMO Recovering Our Ancestorsover Arkansas. And dead nettle.seeds and grow some peppers, Gardens is about personalDead nettle looks very similaror tomatoes, or some squash or responsibility. Its for readersto it, but you can make saladssomething. This is a wonderful who are interested in returningout of it.thing for kids to do. And I think to traditional ways of eating, butThe other reason itsfor elderly people or people who TOP LEFT social, economic, religiousfor ranching and farming,dont know how to do it. So [theimportant to leave those inhave injuries, the tall, raised A bounty fromand environmental issues.farming commercial crops,book] has suggestions for howthe garden is [for] the bees andbeds are just [a] godsend. ThoseYou also write fiction. WhatTOP RIGHTMihesuahsFlowers, like backyard garden,[In my book] theres a list ofspraying pesticides and, ofto start a garden and how towasps and all the little creatures.are the greatest ideas becauseled you to pursue that? the Echinacea, including:all the little goals we need tocourse, the loss of tribal land,get your kids involved. It has aWhen they wake up from winter,you dont have to bend over.Well, the short version isbutterfly bush banana, bell,reach before we truly have theall make foraging [the practicelot of recipes and a curriculumthey need those initial blossomsBackyard gardening isntbecause the stuff I write andand common marconi andmilkweed cubanellewhole shebang of Indigenousof getting food from theguide in the back for K-12 andto survive. And then once thegoing to provide you withresearch and teach aboutpictured here, can peppers;food sovereignty. And thesurrounding environment]universities.weather starts getting hot, theeverything you need. Theresis very heavy. And its allbrighten a garden Cherokee purpleand attract and Romafour major headings are:almost impossible.henbit fades away and its veryonly so much that the gardenpersonal to me.So, I writepollinators that tomatoes; greenhealthy environment, culturalYouve got food as aYouve talked about whyeasy just to rake it all up. Andis going to give you. But, again,fiction as a way for me toplay a pivotal role beans;purple, Yukon and redknowledge, access to local andnecessity. We need food fortraditional recipes arethen here comes the goosefootits the connection to culturewrite an ending that I like.in maintaining healthy potatoes; okra;culturally-related foods, andsustenance [and] nutrition, butimportant and how theyand it gets you outside.The first novel I wrote,ecosystems. and grapes. personal responsibilities. . So toalso as a cultural connection.connect to culture. HowRoads of My Relations, I decolonize, it means you haveThen youve got food as ais growing your own foodOut of the recipes inwrote when I was 40.ItsMIDDLESome plants to be an activist, a researcher, acommodity. And anytimefoundational to Indigenousyour book, do you havebased on seven generationsoften considered networker and you have to haveyou start treating food as apeoples lives?a favorite or one that isof my family stories, and theweeds, like henbit, are actually edible respect for the natural world. commodity, we are in bigThese gardens were veryparticularly special to you? centerpiece of that novel isand nutritious, trouble, because producersimportant, because they couldI would say the squash, tomatoa family garden. We had asays Mihesuah. Have changes in agriculturewant to grow it faster. Theysupplement in times of war orand pepper mix thats sauted.family garden that began in theAnd gardeners arent the only and the U.S. food systemwant more of it. The quality isin times when we needed toI put in zucchini, crookneckSoutheast and it came throughones who benefit: made it more difficult tonot quite as good. So, I guesshave more trade items. And theysquash, mushrooms, andthe generations. When myPollinators, like the honeybee preserve the uniquenesstheres no easy answer to theare also very important for seedtomatoes and peppers.family was removed to Indianpictured here, of a traditional diet? question, because withoutsaving and seed exchange. Plus,And to me, thats comfortterritory, the first thing they didrely on the plants Thats a big question. Resourcestraditional resources its veryeach family could grow whatfood, because it tasteswas to establish that garden,initial blossoms to survive come have vanished. Global warming,difficult to get back to traditionalthey preferred. Once they wereearthy and its somethingbecause that was the immediatespringtime.pollution, clearing the fieldsways of eating. introduced to watermelons andmy grandmother made.connection to the culture.n44| HOLIDAY 2021 HEIFER.ORG |45'