In celebration of Black History Month and looking forward to Women’s History Month - this week we’re so pleased to air another of our CP LIVE conversations, recorded live in front of an audience on the home ground of the Cultivators of Place with whom we are speaking. This CP LIVE recording focuses on the paradigm-shifting landscape work of Leslie Bennett who is dedicated to beautifully designed, edible-plant rich, culturally rooted gardens for all people, AND centering Black Women in the American Landscape. It’s a great pairing.
The interview, and gathering for it, took place on an unexpectedly chilly evening in late September 2024, but the spirited audience of 80+ people - in full celebratory finery - was not bothered at all. And, the event was also occasion for the first public unveiling of photographic portraits by Rachel Weill of the first 8 women beneficiaries of a Black Sanctuary Garden.
The portraits are taken of each woman in their gardens - embodying as Leslie described it: their full and authentic joy and liberation. The whole evening unfolded in the heart of an elegant, fruit, flower filled terraced backyard garden - one of the black sanctuary gardens to date.
This conversation, and all it was trying to express and hold space for, was richly integrated with community, with an event specific attendee-contributed music playlist curated and DJ’d by Tommy Soulati Shepherd, with blessing offered by Kaitlin McGaw (Tommy and Kaitlin of the Emmy-nominated and Grammy-winning Alphabet Rockers), with laughter and food.
With an academic background in environmental justice, land use law, cultural property and preservation, Leslie Bennett is the founder and owner of Pine House Edible Gardens, a landscape design/build firm that creates aesthetic edible gardens and productive outdoor spaces.
As a Black-owned company and women-lead team, Pine House Edibles supports making gardens accessible to all through their unique equity pricing program that supports their Black Sanctuary Gardens project, a series of garden spaces created in collaboration with Black women and Black communities in and around Oakland, CA. Creating places of respite and beauty that celebrate Black communities is essential as they work to grow a more beautiful and equitable world together.
The mandate for me in these CP Live experiences and interviews is to not only give voice to (as the podcast always does), but actually make visible the many diverse connections animated by the gardening impulse everywhere. What this conversation makes visible to me, and I hope to all listeners, is that gardens are food, beauty, health, and divinity. Gardens are land use. Gardens are community centers, gardens are one form of public policy made manifest by the people. Gardens are authentic joy and liberation.
The more we see and support Gardeners and Gardens, the better we grow our world. Everyone deserves access to gardens and the many benefits that we as humans derive from them and with them. Everyone deserves access to food and flowers and the authentic, joyous liberation that comes from our relationship to these things on and with the land.
As Leslie points out toward the end of our extended conversation: land-based
memories often tie us to the past and to our cultures of origin. This can be beautiful and this can be complicated. And in our gardens, we can tap into both the beauty and the complexity and we can choose with the intention to grow and nurture a whole new culture born of more food, beauty, and community – and perhaps a little less complexity. For ourselves, for our children, for the future of land, and all the lives on it.
I am so pleased to welcome Leslie – creator of gardens that help to nourish and tell the story of who we are and can be, individually and communally – back to Cultivating Place.
Thank you post from Leslie on IG:
Follow along with Leslie and the gardens Online:
And on Instagram:
All Photos courtesy of Leslie Bennett, Rachel Weill, and Myriam Nicodemus/EM EN. All rights reserved.
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Best of CP programs in our archive:
JOIN US again next week, when guest host Abra Lee continues our celebration of Black History Month in conversation with New York Based award winning Landscape Designer Wambui Ippolito, of Wambui Designs Creating Sustainable, Luxurious Gardens creating memorable and inspirational spaces recognized for innovation, imagination, and embracing the exuberance of Nature whilst responding to the functionality of space. That's right here, next week. Listen in!
Cultivating Place is made possible in part by listeners like you and by generous support from
supporting initiatives that empower women and help preserve the planet through the intersection of environmental advocacy, social justice, and creativity.
Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, it's Jennifer-
If there is one thing that I have learned from every single interview I have conducted with gardeners in my lifetime – it is that gardeners can grow anything they set their mind, hearts, and hands to. From carrots, to chrysanthemums, to regenerated cultural paradigms and economies.
Something that Leslie says in the course of this conversation is sticking with me – actually SOOO MANY thing she says and notes are, but this is one I want to pull forward – and maybe you caught it too – it was about how you can do a lot in your garden individually but it means nothing until it moves into the collective and community. Did you note that? I think she’s right. And I think that’s the power of the CP Live episodes for me that are so energizing – it takes CP conversations and offers them into the embrace and action of community. And from there – they can grow anywhere we want them to. How great is that?
Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes to Cultivating Place now in its 10th year of production WHOOP and for your well wishes on our becoming a non profit 501c3 – double WHOOP! Deep deep gratitude to so many of you for your financial contributions as we strive to meet our 2025 matching grant from the Catto-Shaw Foundation! To those of you who have already signed up for recurring monthly donations – a special thanks - small but MIGHTY wins the day!
If you’d like to participate in helping us meet this match, you can chip in any amount all tax deductible through the support button at the top of every page at CultivatingPlace.org.
Thank you most recently to Marcy, Alan, Katherine, Janet, Christl, Pliny and Ruth, Abigail and Dave, Sabrina, Flora, Diana, David, David and Carol, Phil and Joanne, and anonymous.
And thank you – every contribution means the world to this communal virtual place we cultivate here on this program together.
And now for this week’s Public growing Announcements –
March 3rd through 9th is Green Career Week, led by Seed Your Future, the movement to promote horticulture and inspire people to pursue careers working with plants, under the leadership of Executive Director Jazmin Albarran. I had never heard of this but was excited to!
The first week of March also sees the Garden Conservancy kicking off their annual speaker series on March 5th at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL. This year’s speaker is a favorite of mine – the brilliant and poignant photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo speaking on the subject of her new book full of words and images of one of my favorite plants: Rose – specifically Roses in the Garden. Ngo’s full national tour dates are online now. If you were to ask me, I would say this is a talk and showing not to be missed somewhere along the route. March 1st also kicks off the conservancy’s Open Garden Days for 2025.
The Saratoga Horticultural Research Endowment is now accepting applications for 2025 projects support research, education, and outreach that fosters the introduction of new and improved plants for California gardens and ornamental landscapes.
On March 16th , The Scott Garden Horticulture Award will be conferred on Andrea DeLong Amaya from the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center in
Texas. The award is designed to be given annually to an individual, organization, or corporate body who, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, has made an outstanding national contribution to the science and the art of gardening, and Andrea certainly has! Congratulations to her!
More next week – until then – keep growing.
WAYS TO SUPPORT CULTIVATING PLACE
Cultivating Place is a co-production of North State Public Radio, a service of Cap Radio, licensed to Chico State Enterprises. Cultivating Place is made possible in part listeners just like you through the support button at the top right-hand corner of every page at Cultivating Place.com.
The CP team includes producer and engineer Matt Fidler, with weekly tech and web support from Angel Huracha, weekly communications support by Sheila Stern and Carley Bruckner, transcripts by Doulos Transcription, and regular guest hosting by Abra Lee and Ben Futa. We’re based on the traditional and present homelands of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria. Original theme music is by Ma Muse, accompanied by Joe Craven and Sam Bevan.
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