Eco-service
To decide what to plant and when at Everyone's Garden next growing season, maybe it would be good to list some of the "ecosystem services" an urban garden can provide, then see which benefits to emphasize given the needs and limitations of this particular garden/grove.
Filtering the air - something all plants do. Providing oxygen - always in short supply in our combustion-fueled cities. Now that many forest areas are burning from global warming, even more important.
Providing food. Feeding people in a healthy and lasting way inevitably entails nurturing the whole community of life, since the quality and quantity of life in an area is a major part of the health and consequent productivity of a soil. So you have to feed not just the people but the honeybees and the other insects and the plants which flower and the worms and little bugs in the soil and the birds and other wildlife. It's a big picture, whole-system way of looking at things.
We humans at this great moment in history are also being seen as vital members of the ecosystem. We have, in so many destructive activities, shaken the foundations of the function of the planet. We are now called to service - to humanity and to life - to work together to regenerate our wounded ecosystem. WE are an ecosystem service. From re-stabilizing the weather to re-balancing the ph of the oceans so that life may thrive again there, we have plenty of work to do.
There's 100% full employment saving the Earth. Whether you're an urban farmer or a landscaper or a builder or truck driver or whatever, there's all the work we could possibly ask for.
Pollination services. Not just honeybees but insects in general are necessary. Love your bugs.
Pollution treatment. A healthy urban planting, via the cooperative magic of an extremely complex microbial ecosystem in the soil, biodegrades (breaks down by consuming) a wide range of toxics common in our cities. Metals also tend to be locked up into less harmful organic forms by germs and molds in a healthy soil.
Beauty is an ecosystem service too. Just being somewhere enjoying looking at and smelling life improves mood and brain function. We need fifty more gardens in Hazelwood, including healing gardens, just there to be enjoyed.
Medicinal plants.
Inevitably you have to narrow your general goals down. The last two years I emphasized biodiversity and pollination, so there was a good variety of insects on the flowers. Right now I'm planting lots of garlic, with the expectation that, it being easy to grow (the wildlife doesn't eat it), this wonderful food/medicine (especially good for you uncooked) will supply myself and my neighbors. I'd welcome help coming up with a more complex and deeply thought out strategy for this garden.
This coming growing season gardeners will be able to sell what they grow through Dylamato's Market, so start thinking about what YOUR garden strategy for next year is gonna be. Mine includes constantly keeping in the back of my mind the seriousness of the coming environmental difficulties.
Some Hopi elders are of the opinion that we (the people on Earth) are in the prophesied time they call "The Great Purification", which will be followed by a time they call "The Renewal". This makes sense to me. We each have been born into a world that in many ways has been falling into collapse for thousands of years. The planet used to be covered by forest, with waters full of life. Some of us still think we humans will be able to master Nature, but the best we will ever be able to do is learn to do our part in wisely managing the ecosystem. As yet, being in the time of the Great Purification, we are still trying to force our wills on our environs, and it's boomeranging on us.
We have taken down so much of the ecosystem that we will have to step back from a lot of our previous habits and ways of doing things. There is no business as usual any more. The planet is purifying itself of a lot of old ideas which no longer work.
Some think only bad things are happening now, with earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes and forests burning and radioactivity leaks and terrorism and warfare. But, looking from a much larger and longer perspective, what's going on today makes perfect sense. Everything is connected by cause and effect, so what you do unto others is bound to come back to you.
We're all learning from the School of Hard Knocks that we have ourselves played a part in the creation of our own enemies. Those of us still unwise enough to fight are finding ourselves enmeshed in deeper and deeper conflict, with seemingly no way out as the enemies keep morphing and coming back on us in unexpected ways. We are being overwhelmed by problems, and that is the purification part - forcing us through our suffering to look at ourselves and see what we need to drop.
I doubt there's a single soul on Earth who isn't wounded, consciously or not. The only way out is by widening our circle of compassion. We have to become wounded healers.
Jim McCue
composter and biotech researcher 412-421-6496
http://bioeverything.blogspot.com
Filtering the air - something all plants do. Providing oxygen - always in short supply in our combustion-fueled cities. Now that many forest areas are burning from global warming, even more important.
Providing food. Feeding people in a healthy and lasting way inevitably entails nurturing the whole community of life, since the quality and quantity of life in an area is a major part of the health and consequent productivity of a soil. So you have to feed not just the people but the honeybees and the other insects and the plants which flower and the worms and little bugs in the soil and the birds and other wildlife. It's a big picture, whole-system way of looking at things.
We humans at this great moment in history are also being seen as vital members of the ecosystem. We have, in so many destructive activities, shaken the foundations of the function of the planet. We are now called to service - to humanity and to life - to work together to regenerate our wounded ecosystem. WE are an ecosystem service. From re-stabilizing the weather to re-balancing the ph of the oceans so that life may thrive again there, we have plenty of work to do.
There's 100% full employment saving the Earth. Whether you're an urban farmer or a landscaper or a builder or truck driver or whatever, there's all the work we could possibly ask for.
Pollination services. Not just honeybees but insects in general are necessary. Love your bugs.
Pollution treatment. A healthy urban planting, via the cooperative magic of an extremely complex microbial ecosystem in the soil, biodegrades (breaks down by consuming) a wide range of toxics common in our cities. Metals also tend to be locked up into less harmful organic forms by germs and molds in a healthy soil.
Beauty is an ecosystem service too. Just being somewhere enjoying looking at and smelling life improves mood and brain function. We need fifty more gardens in Hazelwood, including healing gardens, just there to be enjoyed.
Medicinal plants.
Inevitably you have to narrow your general goals down. The last two years I emphasized biodiversity and pollination, so there was a good variety of insects on the flowers. Right now I'm planting lots of garlic, with the expectation that, it being easy to grow (the wildlife doesn't eat it), this wonderful food/medicine (especially good for you uncooked) will supply myself and my neighbors. I'd welcome help coming up with a more complex and deeply thought out strategy for this garden.
This coming growing season gardeners will be able to sell what they grow through Dylamato's Market, so start thinking about what YOUR garden strategy for next year is gonna be. Mine includes constantly keeping in the back of my mind the seriousness of the coming environmental difficulties.
Some Hopi elders are of the opinion that we (the people on Earth) are in the prophesied time they call "The Great Purification", which will be followed by a time they call "The Renewal". This makes sense to me. We each have been born into a world that in many ways has been falling into collapse for thousands of years. The planet used to be covered by forest, with waters full of life. Some of us still think we humans will be able to master Nature, but the best we will ever be able to do is learn to do our part in wisely managing the ecosystem. As yet, being in the time of the Great Purification, we are still trying to force our wills on our environs, and it's boomeranging on us.
We have taken down so much of the ecosystem that we will have to step back from a lot of our previous habits and ways of doing things. There is no business as usual any more. The planet is purifying itself of a lot of old ideas which no longer work.
Some think only bad things are happening now, with earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes and forests burning and radioactivity leaks and terrorism and warfare. But, looking from a much larger and longer perspective, what's going on today makes perfect sense. Everything is connected by cause and effect, so what you do unto others is bound to come back to you.
We're all learning from the School of Hard Knocks that we have ourselves played a part in the creation of our own enemies. Those of us still unwise enough to fight are finding ourselves enmeshed in deeper and deeper conflict, with seemingly no way out as the enemies keep morphing and coming back on us in unexpected ways. We are being overwhelmed by problems, and that is the purification part - forcing us through our suffering to look at ourselves and see what we need to drop.
I doubt there's a single soul on Earth who isn't wounded, consciously or not. The only way out is by widening our circle of compassion. We have to become wounded healers.
Jim McCue
composter and biotech researcher 412-421-6496
http://bioeverything.blogspot.com
posted by St. Jim the Composter at 12:35 PM
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