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City Nature by Martha Retallick - book review

Nature and art … with water harvesting for dry lands agriculture … and great photography ...

MARTINA NICOLLS

Feb 4

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City Nature: Tales of Ornery Plants, Opinionated Birds, Gardening Triumphs and Tragedies, and Capturing it All Through a Lens (2024) is set in Tucson, Arizona in America, from about 2018 to the present day.

Mary Retallick is a photographer and journalist documenting urban nature in her home state. She purchased her home in 2004 and has been transforming the property into an urban oasis from scratch – a desert property where water is a scarcity.

She focuses on active and passive water harvesting and upcycling (repurposing objects), but essentially, she discusses three themes: 1) nature and the built environment (landscaping in an arid environment), 2) nature nourishes (urban agriculture, including three recipes), and 3) nature delights (her photographs).

She begins by mentioning her artistic home – a cross-cutting theme throughout the book in which her knowledge of landscaping is accompanied by her photographs, about 60 of them. Residential irrigation is a large focus.

I don’t have a garden, except for balcony pots, but I found myself comparing Martha’s ideas to those of my sister who lives on a property, landscaped from scratch, in the driest state of Australia. So, I was interested in the rainwater tanks to harvest water. Martha also writes about wastewater, another technique that my sister uses. Other shared approaches include recycling, upcycling, and do-it-yourself projects that are adopted by both Martha and my sister.

As a cyclist, I was also interested in Martha’s side comments about her cycling adventures, as I also have cycled across deserts – in Australia. And I’m a nature photographer and a bird watcher. Therefore, I found this book interesting, insightful, and useful on several accounts – nature, gardening, arid lands, photography, cooking, and birds.

I like that Martha describes her photographs as a “visual feast.” She also includes photography tips in the Afterword section. But that’s not all – the recipes are quick and easy, so I’ll bake the “15-Minute Mesquite Cookies”!

City Nature is not a story about nature, it is a non-fiction book and technical, but extremely easy-to-read because it’s personal and practical. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Can’t see the whole article? Want to view the original article? Want to view more articles? Go to Martina’s Substack: The Stories in You and Me