Alice Vincent, Author of 'Rootbound'
Alice Vincent is an author, garden writer and journalist who, at the time of recording in May 2020, gardened on her balcony in London. Her book, Rootbound, Rewilding a Life, describes her journey to becoming a gardener as an almost accidental way of supporting herself at a time of personal crisis and is a delightful read.
It is, she wrote herself, ‘about plants, and people, and the things that grow up in between the cracks - love, longing and life” and she weaves together the themes of gardening, coming of age, mental health, plants, travel and the history of women in gardening in a way that is readable, accessible and gave us masses to talk about.
The history of women in gardening has historically been one of privilege with exploration mainly undertaken by white women of independent means and we spoke about the way in which gardening is political.
I reflect, in my introduction to the episode which was recorded in May before George Floyd was murdered, on my regret at my own lack of awareness which meant that we hadn’t also explored the many ways in which Black and Indigenous People of Colour have been, and still are, discriminated against in the world of gardening. I decided to proceed with publishing the episode nonetheless as a marker in time, and hopefully, progress.
Links:
Alice’s Instagram: @noughticulture