I have eclectic tastes in books. Or, as my husband used to say, “Damn, you’ll read anything. Same difference, as we say around here.

ANYWAY, Sara got me this amazing book: Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need To Save Them, by Dan Saladino.

Agriculture is a constant race between population growth, plant productivity, and climate/ecosystems. The more food is available, the more the population grows, which necessitates an increase in food availability…. At the same time, climate/ecosystems change because of whatever plus because of food production methods. The Dust Bowl didn’t just happen because of the droughts.

So scientists and farmers have concentrated on developing and growing the most productive varieties of plants, even if those varieties mean increases in fertilizer, irrigation, erosion, and pollution.

Meanwhile, old varieties, which were less productive but could produce what they did without fertilizer and irrigation (and, therefore, without erosion and pollution) are being lost.

This book is a series of detective stories exploring how domesticated crops and animals came to be domesticated, why they’ve been monocultured to near (or total) extinction, and what those ancient genetics can teach us about surviving our own cleverness.

Now, my New Year’s nails:

The base coat is Maniology’s Black Magic. The gold flakies are Maniology’s Honeypot, and the confetti an fireworks are various stamping polishes. The plate is Maniology M042.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: An unexpected plant.

MA