5 Minutes with Lorraine Johnson

Gardening guru and author Lorraine Johnson (Tending the Earth: A Gardener's Manifesto) will participate in tonight's Think Globally, Eat Locally panel discussion at Riverdale Branch, alongside chef David Adjey and CBC wine expert Konrad Ejbich.

You’ve written several books about gardening now. When did you first develop your green thumb?

I got interested in gardening when I moved from an apartment to a house and realized that I couldn't identify the tree growing in the front yard. As well, I wanted to start growing my own food, so I dug 
up the backyard lawn and planted lots of vegetables. Then, because I was doing research into environmental issues, I became very interested in native plants, something that has become my passion.

Spring is just around the corner. As gardeners look forward to another productive season, what native plants would you like to see them include in their plans?

There are so many great native plants to choose from, and many are readily available in nurseries. I'd suggest starting with some easy-to-grow native plants, such as black-eyed Susans, culver's root and ironweed for sun, and wild ginger and foamflower for shade.

You will be speaking at the library’s discussion panel about the local food movement. How did you first become interested in this movement?

Toronto has such an active food movement, full of committed, interesting people who are eager to share their knowledge and experience. I became interested in food issues through community gardens, where people grow food together and promote an equitable food system with access to fresh, nutritious food for all.

What are three simple tips you can offer to a busy Torontonian who wants to adapt the principles of the local food movement into his or her daily life?

1) Buy as much of your food as possible directly from a farmer - at a farmers' market or through a food box program organized by groups such as FoodShare.

2) Ask your local grocer to sell organic, local food.

3) Read the labels at the grocery store, which tell you the origin of fruits and vegetables, and ask yourself what you know about food safety legislation in countries such as China, where the fruits and 
vegetables are from.

Please list 5 books that are currently on your shelf.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Interwoven Wild: An Ecologist Loose in the Garden by Don Gayton
Silence of the Songbirds by Bridget Stutchbury
The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis
Faithfull: An Autobiography by Marianne Faithfull

5 Minutes with Alissa York

Alissa York's novel Effigy was a 2007 Scotiabank Giller finalist. Her award-winning short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies, and in the collection, Any Given Power. Meet Alissa at this Wednesday's Lit Lunch: History Re-Imagined event at the Toronto Reference Library. Bring your own lunch or buy one for $5.

Where did the idea for Effigy come from?

The initial inspiration for Effigy came from an article in the Globe and Mail about Bountiful, BC. Home to the Canadian branch of an offshoot Mormon sect, this community claims to remain faithful to the teachings of the original Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith—teachings which include the doctrine of Celestial Marriage, or, as it’s more commonly known, polygamy.

The article got me thinking seriously about polygamy for the first time, and I found there  was a real buzz around the topic for me—the kind of feeling I get when something might lead to a story or even a 
book.

I began reading about the history of the Mormon Church, and eventually came upon the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a tragic event that took place in southwest Utah  on September 11th, 
1857. 120 men, women and children were murdered on that day; only the very youngest children were allowed to survive. Seventeen children lived. Time and again I read that statistic, until one source gave the number of survivors as eighteen. It was that discrepancy—that hole in history—that allowed space for my main character to come to life. Dorrie would be that possible eighteenth child, the one who was unaccounted for.

The attention to historical detail in your book is impressive. How did you research it?

I read countless books and web pages on the subjects of Mormon history and doctrine, taxidermy, horses, the pony express, circuses, the gold rush, and the West in general. I also spent a great deal of time staring at old photographs. The more I learned, the more the book took shape, scene by scene.

So we just have to ask: Do you have any mounted animals in your home?

Like every child of Australian parents, I have a toy koala bear made of kangaroo skin. There's a steer's jawbone on the mantle piece, but nothing more alarming than that.

Toronto Public Library is celebrating Keep Toronto Reading Month this February. What role does the library play in your life?

The research process essential to my work would be impossible without the library. What's more, I'm filled with joy every time I enter a building full of people reading.

Please list 5 books that are currently on your shelf.

Bringing Back the Dodo by Wayne Grady
Beyond This Point by Holley 
Rubinsky, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
The Ring of Bright Water Trilogy by Gavin Maxwell
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander