to weed or not to weed

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Weeds are not “bad” per se, after all they are part of the biodiversity of the plant kingdom.  It is more a matter of perspective how we see them.  Out of laissez-faire I have weeded relatively little in both our vegetable garden as well as the rest of the garden this year, and I am finding that the whole garden is just so filled with all kinds of plants, more so it seems than in other years.  Our bees are happy, wild flowers and herbs are spreading, vegetables are self-seeding from one year to the next – it’s incredibly abundant. Some “weeds” are actually edible, such as dandelions or purslane for example.  Other “weeds,” which we call wild flowers, are pretty in the garden or beautiful in a vase gathered in big generous bunches.  Others spread an incredible scent, as does our wild and wildly growing honey suckle.  Making weeds my allies, instead of “fighting” them as enemies, is a much more cooperative approach, as The Healthy Environment Group and Bill Finch explained recently in separate write-ups.

organic epiphany

(photo by captrosha)

I had this epiphany a while ago when I needed to buy a new duvet cover and saw an organic cotton one on sale.   Previously, I had mostly thought about organics in terms of the health benefits to my family and myself - that buying and eating organic foods would prevent us from eating pesticides, harmful additives, antibiotics and growth hormones, genetically modified and weakened foods in general.  But the perspective is much more encompassing, which is why I ended up buying the organic cotton duvet cover.  With this purchase I voted for a healthier environment and a healthier agriculture, because that cotton didn’t get sprayed with pesticides or subjected to chemical fertilizer,  I also voted against the industries that develop and manufacture these fertilizers and toxins,  I voted for the health of the farm workers who weren’t subjected to the poisons, and lastly I voted against GMO crops and the big conglomerates that develop them.

the joys of composting

Recently, I bought an Earth Machine with high hopes that my composting efforts will become more effective.  For a few years now I have been accumulating a big heap of our compostable kitchen wastes in the back of the garden.  And while composting and recycling have reduced our regular net household garbage to less than one large garbage bag per week, the messy pile in the garden doesn’t decompose without some help.  Ok, I admit it, I am somewhat lazy when it comes to certain things.  I was hoping that it would do it by itself.  But I don’t usually happen to have piles of dried leaves sitting next to the compost pile to mix in with the kitchen scraps, nor do I feel like getting the pitch fork out of the basement to turn the pile when I am in the middle of making dinner and find myself with a full compost bucket that I quickly need to empty in order to continue peeling onions and garlic.  So I am hoping that this Earth Machine will make things easier and produce actual compost, that rich fertile stuff that is supposed to come out of the bottom.  Yet, their instructions, too, specify that I need to add either some soil, or dried leaves or weeds, although I am hoping that “kitchen browns,” such as paper towels, tissues, coffee filters, or teabags, will do the job (stale bread is another "kitchen brown," but I don't throw my stale bread out, I collect it in the freezer and make bread pudding or a breakfast strata out of it).  I will keep you posted of my composting success (or lack thereof).  

rain, lots, finally

 

Finally it rained, lots.  We really needed it and you can tell from the pictures that the plants loved it.   Culturally, we tend to emphasize the negative.  We associate rain with a cold gray gloomy day.  But what would we do without it? It is good to consider the positive aspects of things.  The pearly raindrops on the leaves looked beautiful and nature's colors became vibrant again.  The rain drops that had collected in the lupine leaves looked like crystals.  The world becomes different when we appreciate the beauty in everything.

the geraniums are back out

Although it’s early in the season, I think the geraniums are out for good because it has been such a warm winter and early spring. There was a time when I didn’t know that geraniums are perennials.  I rebought them every year like pansies.  Now come November I take them in and keep them on the kitchen counter by the window where they bloom all winter long in their popping red.  The children don’t like their peculiar smell and my husband finds that they take up too much space on the countertop.  But I can’t bring myself to let the geraniums freeze to death in the fall and then rebuy new ones every spring. Not only is it wasteful and feeds that industrial machine, but I like feeling the circularity of the seasons via the geraniums.  There is comfort in knowing that some things don’t change, that, come fall, the geraniums will be back inside with us.