Meet Martha Leb Molnar, author of "Playing God in the Meadow" on Saturday, December 10, at 5 PM at the bookstore in Brandon, Vermont, where she will discuss her botanical journey and sign copies of her book.
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After decades of fantasizing and saving, Martha Leb Molnar and her husband moved to Vermont, determined to turn an unproductive apple orchard into a thriving and beautiful landscape. Once they cleared the gnarled and dying trees away, Molnar was forced to wage war on the invasive species that had sprung up around the property. Propelled by the heated debate surrounding non-native species and her own complicated family, history and migration, she was driven to research the Vermont landscape, turning to scientific literature, experts in botany and environmental science, and locals who have long tended the land in search of answers. At turns funny, thoughtful, and conversational, "Playing God in the Meadow," follows this big-city transplant as she learns to make peace with rural life and an evolving landscape that she cannot entirely control.