ECU Seed Swap

My Urban Garden / directed by Polly Bennell, 2009
“In this short film, Halifax gardener Carol Bowlby harvests a mouth-watering crop from her small backyard plot. In considering soil quality, lack of space and a short growing season challenges rather than obstacles, she offers a wealth of practical growing tips for urban gardeners. By heeding Bowlby's advice, bountiful organic gardens work equally well on apartment balconies, in small or large city lots or in a rural setting.”

 

Five seasons : the gardens of Piet Oudolf, produced and directed by Thomas Piper, streaming available through Feature Films at ECU
“An immersive and meditative documentary that reveals how the revolutionary landscape designer, Piet Oudolf, upends our conventional notions of nature, public space, and, ultimately, beauty itself."


 

Gardening Confidential / Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2008
"Gardening Confidential takes us on an international exploration of one of the most obsessive hobbies in human history. From robotic lawnmowers to gardens on Mars, from trendy Manhattan rooftops to virtual gardens in cyberspace, this ancient craft has entered the space age and become a multi-billion dollar industry. Meet some of the most single-minded gardeners in the world and discover how gardening can get you in trouble with the law."
 

Glimpse of the Garden / Marie Menken, 1957.
"Filmed in a garden through a powerful magnifying glass, filmmaker Marie Menken's Glimpse of the Garden is a simple visual poem accompanied by the sound of birdsongs. When Glimpse of the Garden was shown at the Cinemathèque Française in 1963, Jonas Mekas reported that the French audience laughed at it, embarrassed by the film's benign simplicity. Suffice it to say that Glimpse of the Garden represents Menken's interest in pure visuals and essentially feminine point-of-view."
 

The Botany of Desire / based on the book by Michael Pollan
Call Number: QK46.5 .H85 B68 2009
Shows how human desires are an essential, intricate part of natural history. The program will explore the natural history of four plants -the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato - and the corresponding human desires - sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control. This two-hour documentary begins in Michael Pollan's garden, and roams the world, from the fields of Iowa to the apple forests of Kazakhstan, from a medical marijuana hot house to the tulip markets of Amsterdam.

Indigenous Plant Diva / directed by Kamala Todd, 2008
"In the language of the Squamish Nation, Cease Wyss was given the name 'T'Uy'Tanat', meaning "Woman who travels by canoe to gather medicines for all people." In director Kamala Todd's lyrical portrait, Wyss reveals the remarkable healing powers of plants growing among the sprawling urban streets of downtown Vancouver. Whether it's the secret curl of a fiddlehead, the gentleness of comfrey, or the blood red streaks of frog leaf, plants carry with them millennia of wisdom, communicated through colour, texture and form. Cease Wyss has been listening to this unspoken language, and is now passing this ancient and intimate sense of connection to her own daughter, Senaqwila." 

Seed : The Untold Story by Taggert Siegel and Jon Betz
Call Number: S604.5 .S44 2016
"Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds, worshipped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds. SEED features Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbrell, Winona LaDuke and Raj Patel." --container.

Playlist: D-Town Farm Community Growing Tutorials / Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, 2020

"Video tutorials on how to grow food in peri-urban settings, ranging from people in apartment buildings to folks with land access. Our community grower educational program offers a broad-base curriculum to beginner growers and make the info accessible online. These videos serve to offer mini-courses to anyone looking to begin growing food for themselves."