About 60 people showed up Thursday night to hear Malcolm Beck talk at our Native Plant Society meeting. It wasn’t a big crowd but those that showed got a treat. In person Malcolm turned out to be an extremely entertaining speaker.
He is known as the founder of Garden-ville, a manufacturer of compost and fertilizer, and as the author of several books on composting and organic gardening. But when he starts spinning his yarns he comes across more as a homespun humorist or a folklorist.
Most of his stories are contained in the little book The Garden-ville Method. In my opinion it is the best of his books, much better than the later collaborations with Howard Garrett. I picked it up about ten years ago when I happened to see it on the shelf at the local farm store where I buy my compost and fertilizers. It relates his experiments with organic methods on his small family farm back before organic was fashionable. You can read samples from the new edition of it here.
Comments (2)
Sounds like a good time. It’s always enjoyable to listen to anyone who’s passionate about something — you can’t help but pick up on their excitement. I would’ve liked to have attended a lecture by Lois Hole — she’s my gardening goddess.
When I lived in Austin, I often shopped at the Gardenville nursery in Oak Hill.