What’s at the center of a plant stem? The pith, of course! Pith is the soft, spongy tissue in plants that stores and transports nutrients. In “Pithy, If Possible,” episode one, Sarah Atkinson, Kathryn Carpenter, Kristofer Coffman and Şehrazat Mart explore the growth of gardening and other pandemic hobbies. Reflecting on their own experiences raising chickens, propagating tomatoes, nurturing sourdough starters and embracing pollinator-friendly plantings, the four garden-enthusiasts get below the surface and examine the hidden dynamics at the root of the gardens we know and care for.

Credits:
Special thanks to the National Humanities Center for hosting the Winter Institute Podcast Workshop that brought us all together. We would especially like to thank Pam Lach, Andy Mink, Patrick Flanigan, and Brienne Hayes for their support and advice. Also thanks to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Nanovic Institute at the University of Notre Dame, Yale University, and Princeton University, for enabling us to attend this workshop.

Music:
Scott Holmes Music, "Storybook," from Free Music Archive
Checkie Brown, "Rosalie," from Free Music Archive
Crowander, "Dusty," from Free Music Archive
Siddhartha Corsus, "Ta-Da!," from Free Music Archive
Scott Holmes Music, "Awake," from Free Music Archive

Sound Effects:
Unknown User (deleted), “Chick Squeak,” from Freesound
Chicken sounds recorded on location by Kristofer Coffman, Minneapolis, MN.
Samuel Gremaud, "Gardening-1," from Freesound
Douderova Adela, “Cutting Tomato,” from Freesound
Neil Raouf, “Garden Ambience with Bees,” from Freesound
Goldfinch song from the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory
Pruning shears sound effect: lungimahlaresound, “Garden Sheers Cutting,” from Freesound

Cover template: Canva.com

For more on gardening, landscaping, and public housing projects in Turkey, see Candan, A. B., & Kolluoğlu, B. (2008). Emerging spaces of neoliberalism: A gated town and a public housing project in Istanbul. New perspectives on Turkey, 39(1), 5-46.

For more on the environmental history of antebellum New York, see Taming Manhattan, by Catherine McNeur (Harvard University Press, 2014).

Transcription: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17FzgoIgzdvHEsHSL-8iO9JeNH6vhO1nhW9udIxVGAGc/edit?usp=sharing