- 1984 First Edition. 157 pages
- Published by AH & AW Reed Ltd. New Zealand
- Hardcover with dust jacket. Brown boards.
- Very good condition. Minor shelf wear to edges of boards and d/j. Light fading to spine of d/j.
Illustrated by Nancy Tichborne. Indexed. Finalist, A/.W. Reed Memorial Book Award 1982.
This is a book for every New Zealander who has ever thrust a spade into the back garden and started a vegetable plot. Whether Maori or European, the New Zelander gardener represents a blend of two ancient gardening traditions brought to this country in the last 1,000 years - the first from the warm tropical islands of Polynesia, the second from the much cooler islands of Great Britain.
Yet even these islands were but stepping stories in the movement of gardening traditions throughout the world. Their ultimate origins lie in the islands of Southeast Asia and the more arid lands of the Middle East from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. Every plant we grow, every tool we use, every scrap of knowledge we have of cultivation, propagation and the care and use of plants can be traced to some point of introduction during those thousands of years.
This extraordinary study of the progress of kitchen gardening in New Zealand over the entire span of human occupation takes in all these traditions and gives today's gardeners both an exciting new appreciation of the generations who have gone before and a new meaning to each of the garden tasks we perform.
Illustrated by the author's sister, 1,000 Years of Gardening is a unique visual and written record of our origins.
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