Well, I finally finished reading Heirloom Vegetable Gardening but while I was reading it, I also managed to finish a couple of other books!  The Heirloom Vegetable Gardening tome is a great volume and I would like to have a copy of it on my gardening bookshelf for future reference.  Now, on to the other books …

I read Something from the Oven while I was in Asheville for my mom’s birthday.  This is a thorough piece of research that touches on many sources that are generally hidden from the lens of history, including practice and personal preferences.  For those interested in the social reception of new technology, the women’s movement, and food history, this volume offers something for them.  In addition, it is an easy read for those who are not academic historians and only have a passing interest in the subject. Read more »

Okay, starting next week, I am teaching elementary and middle school children writing and grammar.  In preparation for that, I have been writing some lesson plans and planning some activities.  This book, Writing Extraordinary Essays, was one of the books that Fairfax Collegiate sent me to use during my courses.  Of the books on writing that I have seen, this one is remarkably good.  It stays away from trying to teach to a test or trying to just teach a rubric and sticks to teaching the skills that make writing fun, useful, and exciting (to both read and write).

Alongside The Classic Guide to Better Writing, this book will help any teacher think about how they teach writing and the skills that are important for students to have to be successful writers.

In rural France, a new castle is taking shape!  It is being built using medieval techniques on a medieval timetable (an estimated total of 26 years). Read more »

A couple of additional gardening books that I am currently reading …

and

The first book (Heirloom Vegetables: A Home Gardener’s Guide to Finding and Growing Vegetables from the Past) is an ideal beginners book.  About half of the book concerns the reasons to grow heritage vegetables and some of the details about how to find and grow them.  The last half of the book is a small selection of vegetable profiles and resources – including a very good list of seed suppliers and saver networks.  Unfortunately, when compared to the second book (Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History), its profiles and resources show their true limitations.  But, the little Heirloom Vegetables book would make a nice gift for a new gardener or just someone getting into those special plants.  Read more »

Have a happy holiday!

What constitutes a history exhibit in our wired, hybrid, creative and contentious world?  Where do we see history in public, and what do its various manifestations have to do with the professional practice of public history per se?  That’s what NCPH’s new exhibit blog, “Off the Wall:  Critical Reviews of History Exhibit Practice in an Age of Ubiquitous Display,” is designed to help figure out.

The National Council for Public History has started a new blog, Off the Wall, which will feature regular short reviews by a cadre of talented observers from the fields of history, archeology, design, art, anthropology, and related areas, with commentary by a group of experienced public historians who will help to keep the critical conversation moving along.  Their first two posts are:

• Adina Langer’s thoughts on the British “Culture 24″ project as an example of a digital “museum of everything”
• Kevin Bartoy’s take on actor Tim Robbins reading the words of historian and gay activist Martin Duberman about the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion

From the first couple of reviews, this looks like it could become a very interesting and useful blog for me to keep abreast of things happening in the public history and museum realms.

In that future, to which he looks forward, he will not, we apprehend, be regarded as having drawn the cosmic circle of life, but rather as having indicated one of its arcs. At all events, it seems to be a historic law that the greater portion of truths in the theory of nature first appear as purple mirages –ruddy and auroral streaks gilding the matin of man’s mind ; but the appointed time- duly brings up the perfect thought, fraught with the wealth of invisible climee, and Hooding the age with the sunlight of science.

From the New York Time’s 28 March 1860 review of The Origin of Species: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection of the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.

Origin of Species Review NYT PDF

Charlie Brown's pub showing curiosities brought back by sailors

The National Maritime Museum is on Flickr with a number of sets, including Animals at Sea, photos of the London Port area, and several concerning museum operations (such as conservation and installation).

This collection is another great visual history resource.  I hope that they continue to add images to their collections because I know that they have a great archive of vintage images.

The Science Museum’s new history of medicine website has recently been completed. According to Dr Robert Bud, the Principal Curator of Medicine,

In all it now presents 4000 new images of artefacts from the collections linked to 16 specialised themes on medicine across time, written by staff and other professional historians of medicine. Each theme is associated with bibliographies and interactives suitable for teaching at several levels.

So far, in my limited browsing of it, the Brought to Life website looks like a great resource for students and historians.

Also, all of the images on the site are available for download and use according to the creative commons license – it is defined here.

"Photograph of Camel Corps two Sihks mounted in fighting order." Photograph taken by Felice Beato on the Nile Expedition to relieve Khartoum. 1884/5

The National Archives (formerly known as the Public Records Office) at Kew have joined Flickr.  They have added about 200 items in seven sets.  The images range from the photos of Felice Beato to Historic Documents to a handful of artifacts.

Sample Child's Ration Book. Throughout the 1940s (and for nine years after the end of the war) every man woman and child in Britain owned ration books of coupons for food and clothing. The Ministry of Food's carefully formulated diet is generally believed to have improved the nation's health.

Hopefully they will continue to post images from the Archives … from my work there during my doctoral research, they have a wonderful collection full of great stories and great images!