In spring, plant lettuce amid tulips. Harvest the outer leaves of the lettuce and you won't have any holes in the planting. (C) Rosalind Creasy
Rosalind Creasy, well-known advocate of edible landscaping, will be one of the keynote speakers during this year’s Spirit & Place.
With the 10-day festival’s theme, Food for Thought, Creasy will talk about her mission: planting edible gardens in beautiful ways.
Creasy pioneered the concept with her award-winning, 1982 edition of The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping, which the Wall Street Journal named the best garden book of the year.
In November, Sierra Club Books will release an updated and completely rewritten Edible Landscaping, which was 10 years in the making, said Creasy, during a telephone interview from her northern California home.
In her first book, there’s nothing about heirloom vegetables, such as ‘Brandywine’ tomato, a staple of many home gardens today. That’s because heirloom vegetable seeds and transplants were not readily available to most home gardeners, said Creasy.
And, she said, there have been many, tremendous advances in pest and insect controls for organic gardeners, which are covered in the book.
As with most of her 18 books, she draws on her experience as a designer of edible landscapes throughout the United States when describing how vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs perform regionally.
“Luscious ‘Brandywine’ has become the poster child for heirloom tomatoes,” she wrote in the book. “When grown in warm, humid climates, it produces the ultimate tomato experience: meaty, juicy and out-of-this-world flavor. In cooler climates, it’s not nearly so flavorful or productive.”
Loaded with Creasy’s inspirational photos, Edible Landscaping contains: an effort scale for each plant (1, minimal to 5, considerable); hardiness zones; how to purchase and grow the plant; and how to use it in the kitchen. It should serve as a tremendous guide for new and experienced gardeners.
Creasy will speak at 2:30 p.m., Nov. 7 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Tickets are required. Cost: $5 for the public; $3 IMA members.
I’ve got my ticket!