Seedfolks

Seedfolks is a delicious treasure that weaves the gifts of garden life

into the spheres of a disconnected community. Paul Fleischman begins
with a distasteful waste filled lot and then creates something that
becomes sought after by everyone. Each persons personal desires to
make the garden come to be is the reason it becomes a better place as
they each sample the many fruits of its harvest.
Pauls inspiration for the story was awakened as he read an article
about a local psychotherapist who used gardening as therapy for her
clients. Pauls parents were both dedicated gardeners. At his mothers
passing he wanted to keep her memory alive. A book about the
healing power of plants would keep her flame lit. (Fleischman 93) This
approach to therapy brings very real healing into the lives of those who
watch things grow. The reader is actually able to connect with this
reality as they continue through the book.
The readers connection to the characters is unusual compared to
other books of this genre. Paul uses a play and prose type format in
each chapter as he introduces a new participant into the garden
project. They each become a part of the garden and are affected by it
directly. Their lives are improved because of it. Paul uses the different
gardeners to express a diverse blend of garden produce, and to
describe each of his characters as a unique flavor.
Paul introduces the yearning of a young girl, Kim, to ignite and
captivate the reader. She has been separated from her father by his
death in her infancy. Her fathers livelihood had been farming. Kim
makes a solo trip to the abandoned dump to plant her sacred beans
which she is certain her father will notice if she can successfully grow
them. Kim finds a secluded place next to an abandoned refrigerator
where she carefully plants her seeds. Her earnest attention to the lot
alerts the suspicion of an onlooker, Ana. I just about knew what shed
buried. Drugs most likely, or money, or a gun. Ana had only seen the
waste filled lot at its face value and never considered its possibility for
improvement as a productive garden. She is shocked to discover the
seeds and chooses to aid Kim anonymously toward her successful
harvest of the beans. (Fleischman 8)
The rotation of roles among the characters is fascinating. Gonzalo, for
example, looks after his father who speaks no English and feels he has
no real purpose in his life. Gonzalos mother decides to let his father
plant seeds in the garden. He knew from the pictures what seeds were
inside. He poured them into his hand and smiled. He seemed to
recognize them, like old friends. (Fleischman 22) Gonzalos father now

had a purpose for living in this unfamiliar country. Just as the earth and
its seasons revolve, so do the lives of people. Paul delicately portrays
how agriculture can envelop each stage of a persons life.
The author is able to express the power motivated people have to
change the dreary dump environment. He uses Leona, a mother of
high school students, to show how knowing the right connections and
using her influential voice is able to move officials to designate the lot
as a community garden.
The community experience arises out of the garden and it causes
people to begin to look out for one another. The unity of the garden
project is evident when the community refuses to allow the lot to be
redesignated as a dumpsite. Unspoken, but strong, individual
boundaries are displayed as the gardeners remove garbage that other
citizens habitually delivered to the now thriving garden site. A thief
stole a womans purse and three men from the garden chase after him,
exemplifying the sense of community that has formed. (Fleischman 72)
Each piece of the story flows in an organized order that makes the
characters precisely connected.
Pauls interview with Allen Public Library, in April of 2009, reveals that,
as a musician, he intended the rhythm of the story to feel like a
musical composition with its blends, movements, and flow. It is
intriguing that a writer could compose a small symphony within his
story in order to bring a new level of awareness to the readers
experience. (Paul 5:15)
The savory mixture of Pauls diverse community is both a musical and
literary masterpiece. It brings a diverse population together through
the transformation of a dump into a community garden. The blend of
character voices and garden produce brings an aroma to the story that
pulls the reader back to reflect on it again and again. It builds a desire
in others to participate in a garden experience of their own. The
personal investment Pauls characters have in the garden displays their
inner tenacities and the rewards that come when they let the flavor of
agriculture begin to linger in their lives.

Paul Fleischman, interview about Seedfolks by Allen Public Library

Interview Apr. 2009, uploaded 30 Aug. 2010 youtube.
Fleischman, Paul. Seedfolks, Harper Collins, 2004.