TINY GARDENS EVERYWHERE, with MIT'S KATE RBOWN
- Jennifer Jewell
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Kate Brown is an MIT Distinguished Professor in the History of Science. Across her career, her research has sometimes inadvertently documented the impact of urban, often small and under resourced gardens and gardeners, in our world. Her new book, "Tiny Gardens Everywhere: The Past, Present, and Future of the Self-Provisioning City", compiles this research and her own lived experience of its truth and potentially beneficial consequences. She makes a case for the importance of tending to plants in our places as history, as science, and as a game changer for our futures.
As many guests, especially ecological and native plant guests, have told us these past many years on the program, the whole planet is gardened at this point, if by Gardened, we mean impacted and intervened with by human actions. We tend to think of our own small spaces – behind our houses, in front of our houses, along our houses, on our porches and windowsills and stoops as our gardens, as though somehow they are distinguishable and discrete spaces. And sometimes they are but in many cases, they are not.
Kate Brown’s new book "TINY GARDENS EVERYWHERE" was featured in @literaryhub 2026 Most Anticipated Books, had a starred review from @kirkus_reviews, and had an awesome Q & A in @civileats!
Follow Kate online:
All photos courtesy of Kate Brown, all rights reserved.
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JOIN US again next week, when we continue plumbing the potential of gardens and gardeners in a future we want to cultivate for the benefit of all. In order to look forward we look back to the radical plan of a 50-year-old intentionally community-oriented housing development in Davis, California. Join us! That's right here, next week. Listen in!
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Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, it's Jennifer—
Following the plants. That’s it, right? That’s so much a part of what
we’re doing as Cultivating Place Gardeners – Big G Gardeners as I like to
distinguish. The title of my commencement address to the graduating
fellows at Longwood in 2025 was Navigating by Plants. I know from
everything every Garden and Gardener I have ever met has taught me –
when we navigate by plants, we will never get lost.
Follow the plants, Gardeners. They haven’t led us wrong yet, have they?
The idea of the commons is another one that recurs again and again in
our cultivating place conversations, isn’t it? I like to – I WANT TO –
think of our monthly Cultivating Place COMMUNING as a form of the
commons – a place we come together, check in, share experiences,
challenges, joys – and where we support each other, like so many
handwoven willow supports around flowering plants.
Our next Communing is next week – May 19th – and we’ll be sharing our
readings and interpretations from reading Terry Tempest Williams’
newest The Glorians, Visitations from the Holy Ordinary. Because that
really captures our gardens and us as Gardeners in time and space, very
Ordinary, humans have been tending plants in their places forever, and
yet also HOLY – sacred spaces of life on life on life begetting more and
more abundant life. Hoping you’ll join me – I love processing books –
can’t wait to process this one with you. Bring your favorite passages, the
messages you took away, the questions that linger. See you then –
Tuesday the 19th at 3 pm Pacific, 6 PM eastern. Links to register HERE. And I will send a recording link out to all registrants, so even if you can’t make it at the last minute, you can follow along later. See you then.
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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, and regular hosting by Founder, Jennifer Jewell, as well as Abra Lee in Atlanta, Georgia, and Ben Futa in South Bend, Indiana. 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..
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