Backyard Alchemy (Paperback)

Paperback. J.D. Ho's Backyard Alchemy transforms the loss of climate stability, relationships, health, and ecological integrity into sites of repair and restoration. Whether about microforaging pennycress and sheep sorrelin the fields, picking pawpaws in the woods, or salvaging scrap metal by a degraded creek, these lyric essays delve into the personal and historical meanings of local ecologies. They explore locations from the Virginia woods to the Los Angeles River, from the Big Island of Hawai'i to Darwin's England and Guangdong Province, China, crouching down to look at the world from the point of view of a stinkbug, a crayfish, a tree of heaven, revealing the ways that empathy can connect us to even the smallest and most denigrated inhabitants of our planet. J.D. Ho's Backyard Alchemy transforms the loss of climate stability, relationships, health, and ecological integrity into sites of repair and restoration. Whether about microforaging pennycress or salvaging scrap metal by a degraded creek, these lyric essays delve into the personal and historical meanings of local ecologies. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…