Quick Takes With: Tama Matsuoka Wong

We’ve been writing about Tama Matsuoka Wong for more than a decade—first in 2013 when we joined her for a foraging (and eating) adventure on her 28-acre property in Hunterdon County, NJ, then again in 2017 when she co-authored the cookbook Scraps, Wilt + Weeds with Danish chef Mads Refslund (of Noma fame). And more recently, earlier this year, we were swept up by her new book, Into the Weeds, which lays out her “wild and visionary way of gardening.”

All of which is to say, we are unabashed fans—of her forage-focused recipes, of her let-nature-take-the-wheel gardening philosophy, of her passion for plants that are often misunderstood and loathed. “Some are ecologically invasive plants, some are just ordinary garden weeds, and some are native plants that aren’t on the list of showy ornamentals but are part of a vibrant natural plant community,” she says.

Below, the self-described “garden contrarian” shares why she thinks planting doesn’t have to be a part of gardening, which tool she uses to maintain her meadow, and why she always has crates in her garden.

Photography courtesy of Tama Matsuoka Wong.

Your first garden memory:

In New Jersey, mucking about in the garden dirt with my mother, and picking wild berries. My mother grew up in Hawaii, climbing coconut trees and she always told me she loved the feel of the earth in her hands.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

It’s an oldie but goodie: Bill Cullina’s Native Trees, Shrubs & Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating American Woody Plants. I still have my dog-eared version of Weeds of the Northeast by Richard Uva. I’ve also read multiple times H is for Hawk by British author Helen Macdonald and My Wild Garden: Notes from a Writer’s Eden by Israeli writer Meir Shalev. They inspire me. And, of course, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Instagram account that inspires you:

@andrew_the_arborist. @minh_ngoc.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Wild, wonder-filled, wabi-sabi.

Plant that makes you swoon:

A survivor plant in its natural habitat and community: whether desert, chaparrel, bog, pine barrens, highlands, low country.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

Callery pear tree (bradford pear tree).

Favorite go-to plant:

Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac).

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

Nothing is forever. Plants thrive when and where the conditions are uniquely suited. We can’t over-think, over-design, and over-control these conditions, especially now with changing and unexpected weather conditions. Just be grateful when a plant has an amazing year.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

My mission is not popular: Weeds, by definition are not popular.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

The idea that everything in a garden needs to be planted, that we need to “install” a landscape.

Favorite gardening hack:

Crates. Upside-down vegetable or other ventilated crates help take the “edge off” sudden downpours/hail/extreme heat. They also help “mark” emerging planted or special areas,
can be moved around to suit seasonal needs, and stack well in storage.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

I bring in frost-sensitive Asian herbs and vegetables: citrus, longevity spinach, lemongrass. and we smell and taste them all winter long.

Every garden needs a…

You only need the basics: sun, clean water, soil….the plants will come. Aside from that, a garden needs a place to walk through.

Favorite hardscaping material:

Argillite, which has a purple tone. We have a lot of stones here.

Tool you can’t live without:

Japanese garden snips. Also Ryobi battery-powered self-propelled mower. Helps steward the meadow paths and it can curve around special patches I am trying to encourage.

Go-to gardening outfit:

Foxgloves’s long gardening gloves.  I wish they would bring back the fingerless ones. Foxgloves’ cotton crochet hat. And SPF 50 protection. I’m outdoors pretty much seven days a week.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Wood Thrush Natives. We propagate a lot on site. My book has seed collecting tips for wild native plants.

On your wishlist:

A formal propagation area.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania.

Future projects?

This past winter I completed and was certified in the online Cornell Medicinal Plants course. The chemistry of plants and what we are discovering about how little we know about plants, their connection with us, and the difference that the terroir has on their biochemistry is incredible. Add in to that Zoey Schimmers new book : The Light Eaters, and I think it is a game-changer for how we are used to thinking about gardening.

The REAL reason you garden:

To give me hope, to live and eat well, and to give back to the universe.