JOURNAL
PERHAPS THE GARDEN
Bill Barksdale, Columnist
The plum trees across the street are in full, dazzling bloom. Delicate pink blossoms that made it through the frosty mornings and all the days of intermittent snow we’ve had. There is a mystery to Life. A kind of gentle, fierce beauty. Nature’s rhythm.
The median strip of ground between our sidewalk and the street is crowded with the brilliant yellow of blooming daffodils, one of nature’s hardy delicate beauties. For most of the year this neglected strip is an embarrassing weed patch that I keep meaning to do some sort of drought-tolerant landscaping to, but never seem to get around to, but in the spring it’s the showplace of the neighborhood thanks to these tenacious daffys that care nothing about me or my neglect.
The only other plant I know of that is as enduring is the evil ivy. My advice, never plant it!!! It smothers every other plant, climbs trees and strangles them, breaks up foundations and sidewalks, destroys house siding and fences. If it climbs up a tree the only solution I know of is to cut the stems off near the ground then again up two or three feet and let it die. In a couple of years you may be able to yank its dead tangles down – never while standing on a ladder!
I learned about ladder use outdoors the hard way. A typical four-footed ladder is extremely dangerous outside. One leg will often sink into the ground and you will fall. This happened to me and I have the lasting battle scars and injuries as a reminder. A friend died after falling backwards just three feet to the ground. If you must use a ladder outside invest in an orchard ladder – one of those three-footed things with curved legs and a pole, resembling the Eiffel Tower. This is the only ladder to use on ground. And NEVER yank anything while standing on any kind of ladder. It can be literally deadly to do so.
Richard Jeske comes to our house each year to prune our fruit trees so that one never need stand on a ladder to pick the fruit. Richard refuses to stand on a ladder. A very wise man.
We live in a time when it’s easy to get lost in other people’s thoughts. One of the traps of media of all types – particularly social media and television. For me, my quiet mornings, sitting and writing a few pages while I sip my cup of tea – helps me to examine the thoughts going through my own mind. Sometimes disturbing. At other times I am able to quiet my mind and appreciate another part of consciousness that is at peace.
I’m rereading a book I love, for the fifth time, called From the Ground Up – The Story of A First Garden by Amy Stewart. Every year or two this poetic book seems to come to mind just when I need to be reminded of the wisdom it shares. One thing it reminds me of is what a wonderful place we are fortunate enough to live in. A place of natural beauty, of life literally springing out of the ground.
Of course we don’t know what Nature has in store for us much of the time. We do know that the seasons will change, and here in the Pacific Northwest, we will actually experience those seasons. In nature there are sunny warm times and rain, snow and cold. Our long often hot summers sometimes bring fire, nature’s way of clearing out the old dead stuff to make way for new life, regeneration.
Nature’s way is not always to human’s liking. We sometimes forget that we are, in the big scheme of things, no more than part of Nature. We can arrogantly forget or ignore that truth, then nature reminds us. Yes, lately especially – once again – we sometimes think that through clear-cutting and poisons or war and violence we are somehow in control, but that’s only an illusion. As the old bumper sticker said “Nature Bats Last”. Always important to remember.
I’ve just finished Peter Zeihan’s book The End of the World is Just the Beginning – Mapping the Collapse of Globalization. A disturbing title, but fascining book. Mr. Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist and researcher who consults with institutions all over the world. He’s made a detailed study of the planet locating the places with the best, and worst, food-growing conditions - also where often scarce minerals and other resources are located.
In general, his hypothesis is that this very interconnected world humans have created that depends on safe and affordable shipping of goods and products, and of resources that only exist often in very limited locations on the planet, and depends on international cooperation - is winding down. Much of this super safe shipping is largely only possible because the U.S. military keeps the seas safe for shipping. No other nation has that capacity. I have to add here that I admire long-haul truck drivers, which are part of this system. Without them, we’d be out of food in our little town within days.
The U.S. with its two large coast lines, lots of reasonably flat, land suitable for growing food, plus a large fuel supply – and reasonably good relations with our sister nations of Canada and Mexico – all combine to help this part of the world be in a good position to survive the collapse of globalization, should it occur.
Many other nations are not in such a good positon, such as China which has a rapidly aging population but not enough young people to keep up with its accelerated over-industrialization that depends on importing raw materials to be manufactured into something and shipped to world markets. It also lacks the geographical capacity to produce adequate food for its large population.
Populations grew too large in some areas because of the abundance of convenient shipping, including the shipping of petroleum which fuels much of the world for the time being. He suggests that the production of solar cells has a big resources footprint since the elements that make those cells & storage batteries possible come from all over the world. Hopefully someday renewable energy will replace fossil fuels with improved technology but currently not enough energy to replace oil. We need to work on good alternatives to fossil fuels. Conservation of energy use is the major starting place.
Adequate food production depends on modern developments in farming he thinks, and there is way too much demand for “meat” which requires huge resources to produce, an appetite that is not sustainable. There are healthy alternatives to meat. Cutting back is better for your health and the planet.
Enough said about Mr. Zeihan’s research and thoughts. Other than to say, if he’s right, humans are out of sync with Nature and unavoidable “adjustments” are inevitable. Time to focus on more localized “economies of scale”, and appropriate population growth, and not think that nothing will change. Good reason to support local small farmers. They are integral to a secure food future. Change is one thing we can count on. Those changes are becoming more self-evident to those paying attention.
My small backyard garden is beginning to call to me lately. I’ve already planted broccoli, which appears to be doing well despite some frosty mornings as I write this. I recently sprayed my fruit trees with dormant oil in an attempt to control the coddling moths that often get into my apples. They haven’t started to bud yet. Soon I’ll begin preparing garden soil with compost and manure plus whatever else the soil needs so there are sufficient natural nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium along with those other things that lightens our often clay-heavy soils. Plants and worms need soil that they can root around in. Humble worms are essential to healthy soil, and thus, healthy gardens.
Many genetically modified crops are a dead end. They kill the insects that pollinate our crops and other fauna. They pollute and kill the soil then run off into waterways and pollute our drinking water – and cost farmers billions of dollars with the false promise of perpetually larger crops. What a load of horseshit, and not the good kind.
We have to be wise about water usage in our climate where it doesn’t rain for at least half of the year. Our dry, hot summers require the types of plants that can handle this climate. Wise water usage is essential. Mulch helps hold the moisture in the ground. Along with aged manure, rotted wood chips and compost, one that I like is rice straw because it doesn’t sprout like other straw. Unfortunately squash bugs like the cover of straw so I don’t grow squash for the time being. I’ll need to think about what might work better. Perhaps you have a healthy secret to keep those pesky-type bugs away – without toxic sprays that make the food unhealthy to consume and that kill pollinator insects – and us. I’m experimenting with diluted white vinegar this year.
It’s always a good idea to plant the types of flowering plants that attract bees, butterflies and the many other insects that pollinate our fruit trees and all types of plants. From Nature’s point of view, they are just as important as humans – perhaps more so. Insects are unquestionably essential to our survival. Just saying.
Perhaps the garden will help me find and nurture that part of myself that encourages me to feel better about life. As I sip my tea and get ready for my morning walk, I notice once again the plum trees across the street, beautiful in the morning sun.
