It is so worthwhile to spend some time: Searching for Sunshine by Ishita Jain

#SearchingforSunshine #NetGalley

This lovely title will be enjoyed by many but, perhaps most especially, by those who live in New York City. The author moved to New York from India and missed that essential sense of the outdoors. How it was found again is in these pages.

As the title notes connections are made with plants, parks and the people who love them. Thus, there are conversations with those who know the Union Square Market, the New York Botanical Garden and a host of other locations.

Enjoy this one for its content. Stay, too, for the glorious illustrations.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 11 April 2023

From the Publisher

Meet a few of the experts and plant-lovers featured in Searching for Sunshine

Jose Lopez Deputy Director of Parklands, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation We have small parks in the city. A small triangle of green still serves a purpose. I might plant a tree now and I might not see that tree grow. I might be gone, but I’m hoping that the tree will grow to be eighty years old.	Alex Crowder Florist, Brooklyn I use my skills to elevate local or seasonal flowers or weeds and get people to see them in a new way. This is my livelihood. I am really good at this. I also want to fight for change. I think we put this idea of activism into a small box… but you can infuse activism in your work ethic as well.	Tama Matsuoka Wong Forager, New Jersey For Tama, foraging is a cultural experience. When her father visited her from Japan with some friends, they were thrilled to see hakobe (chickweed) in the meadow in her backyard. For others in the locality this was just a weed, but in Japan it is one of the seven precious herbs of spring.

Jess Turner Herbalist, Brooklyn When I started working with plants professionally, what felt good was feeling connected to the web of life. I would often do my work without gloves. So when I was working with soil, I would touch the soil. I remember the first time that I took my shoes off and the feeling of my feet on the bare ground.	Joseph Charap Director of Horticulture, Green-Wood Cemetery I’m very fortunate that I have a job that doesn’t require me to be indoors all day. It never gets old for me to see the same tree every day… Natural landscapes are so conducive to the grieving process because there’s a sense of continuity—even if a tree falls it’s created seeds and they can continue.	Dr. Ina Vandebroek Ethnobotanist, New York Botanical Garden I combined my studies in biology with my interest in medicine, and so I arrived at medicinal plants and human health. Traditional medicine and folk illnesses are about community understanding community and caring for themselves.

With over 200 gorgeous illustrations by Ishita Jain