{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Horticulturati: Crap(e) Myrtles & Cushaw Squash","description":"Hothouse is returning from hiatus! From here on out this podcast feed will be all Hothouse, so if you want to keep hearing The Horticulturati, please subscribe to that feed HERE (for Apple Podcasts) or HERE (for Spotify).   Crape myrtles are blooming all over the place and Leah is DISGUSTED. What\u2019s triggering this Lagerstroemiaphobia? Perhaps it's not about the crape myrtles at all, but rather the lingering demons of her past in exurban hell. Next, Colleen reports on a storied gourd that vine borers can\u2019t touch: the cushaw squash. Domesticated some time around the dawn of agriculture, the obscure cushaw took on special significance to African American foodways as a \u201cslave food\u201d staple. We discuss plants and memory, the merits of \u201cfolklore,\u201d and the importance of heirloom seeds as \u201cliving archives\u201d of cultural information. Happy belated Juneteenth! See photos of Colleen\u2019s cushaw plant and drop us a line at www.horticulturati.com.  Mentioned in this episode:  The Botany Coloring Book; The Crape Myrtle Trails of McKinney; Neil Sperry on topping crape myrtles; Nandina \u2018nana\u201d;  the \u201cPool Party Incident\u201d of 2015; Homestead Heart (YouTube); \u201cThe Seeds of Survival\u201d (NYT); Kathe Hambrick-Jackson, The River Road African American Museum (Louisiana); Michael W. Twitty, The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty; Farming While Black, by Leah Penniman.  ","author_name":"Hothouse","author_url":"http:\/\/hothousepodcast.com","html":"