(Image can be found here)
After much (much!) delay, including the completion of my PhD, my move to Atlanta to start my job as Rare Books Curator at Kennesaw State University, and many other adventures, I’m finally finding a free moment to start on the second book in the MM series. One of the approaches I considered in this book was seeing what from Markham’s text could be applied to urban container gardening, and given that I live in an apartment without an in-ground garden space, that looks like the path I’ll be pursuing. One sticking point is the limited amount of sun in my yard, but that’s something Future Julia gets to deal with (lucky her).
For now, I’m starting to research the new book, beginning with a quick revisit to English Housewife, and moving on to Markham’s Farewell to Husbandry, Or, The Enriching of All Sorts of Barren and Sterile Grounds in our Kingdome, To Be as Fruitfull in all Manner of Graine, Pulse, and Grasse (at least we know Markham likes to keep his titles short and to the point). EEBO has put some of their online resources into print, so I’ll be looking at a printed reproduction of this book (unlike Best’s reprinting of English Housewife, which reprinted the text itself, this book is just the scans of the original text, so has all the printing quirks commonly found in books of this era).
The book is also going to include some recipes made from locally-sourced produce, so I can talk about how some of these English recipes might look in Georgia, and how they do and don’t mesh with farm-to-table approaches to food. Imported food was definitely a component of the early modern English diet, although less so in the country where residents were farther from central markets. Markham encouraged frugality to a greater extent than many of his peers, so he pushed his readers to maintain a kitchen garden and use food scraps for compost and animal feed. Part of the reason he could encourage this was because he targeted country gentry rather than city dwellers like myself, who have to be a bit more creative with where and how they grow their own food. If you’re very lucky (or I’m feeling very adventurous), I might play around with comparing some recipes and gardening approaches from other contemporary authors with Markham. Or maybe that will wait until book number 3!
Finally, I’m hoping to acquire (through purchasing or donations) books to build up our collection of English cookery manuals at the Bentley, particularly since English books are one of our focus areas. I’m also hoping to collaborate with culinary programs and other food-focused folks to do work around historic foodways, so some of that may be appearing on the blog too. It feels good to be back!
Modernizing Markham 