Introduction: people and currents -- The Atlantic Ocean: currents of life and death -- Topography: navigating the Southern landscape -- Religion: shouting in the woods -- Resistance: rebellion, sustenance, and escape in the wilderness -- Preservation: blending the practical and the purist -- Conservation: an African legacy of working the land -- Children: dreaming and danger in woods and fields -- Nature study: observing, classifying, and utilizing the natural world -- Women and gardening: a patch of her own -- Environmental justice: free to breathe -- Conclusion: heritage and the future.