GREENING YOUR WALLET-A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO GARDENING 2020

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GREENING YOUR WALLET-A DI

FFERENT APPROACH TO GARDENING 

I normally read the Star every morning and I was really touched about the disturbing picture of a man from one of the many countries facing starvation.

 He declared that in order to stop the horrible pain in their stomachs the poor in his country have been reduced to eating dirt with a bit of sugar and oil.

 It got me thinking about all the arable, fertile land that home owners have covered with green almost useless Kentucky grass, perennials, annuals, shrubs and a few trees.

In the past my approach to my green space had been developed on the principle that since we had banished wildlife with our urban sprawl the very least we could do was to make our backyards wildlife- friendly by creating as many wildlife habitats as possible. 

And I have done this by creating woodland with a diverse and lush understory, log piles (chipmunks love this), planting native and indigenous trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses. 

I have made a concerted effort to plant species that provide nectar to our pollinators, but that are also host plants to butterflies. 

I have a blue heron and raccoon- proof pond with a water fall frequented by a variety of song birds and small mammals. 

Last year we counted 13 frogs in the pond. I'm not sure how they found out we had built a pond!?

I did my front gardens with no digging whatsoever-reducing grunt work is great for the old back! I used the sheet or lasagna method of gardening.

Then after I had spent countless hours putting in my favourite combinations of sturdy perennials and colourful annuals, the summer of no rain set in.

 All my plants were sad and parched -looking. I was spending all my spare time watering. 

As I was watching countless litres of water literally evaporating in the heat I pondered many ethical questions.

If innocent kids in Africa and other places around the world are forced to drink water from the same river in which people wash themselves, in which cattle relieve themselves, and in which billions of deadly bacteria thrive and flourish, do I have the right to indiscriminately use municipal water that has been specifically treated to make it safe for drinking.

I decided that I did not!

 So the next summer I prepared a list of drought tolerant plant material and I set out to transform my thirsty front yard onto a yard that could survive on whatever rain Mother Nature would provide -either from the heavens or from my trusty rain barrel. Seeing that most of my front yard had been turned over to gardens this was an expensive proposition that as a pensioner I could not afford. 

But if there is a will I firmly believe there is always a way.

 In my front gardens I had 4 different kinds of sedums including the red stemmed and variegated. 

I had noticed in the past how quickly the cuttings of these rooted. 

Within 3-4 weeks I had 50 or so of free sedums thriving in the dry heat out front. 

With every drought-tolerant plant I already had in my possession I kept dividing or rooting them. 

By the end of the summer my front gardens were filled with drought tolerant plants with no extra cost to me. 

So now I'm in the process of giving sedums away and trading them for other drought-tolerant plants to increase the bio-diversity out front.

Now getting back to the articles on the imminent starvation that billions of people are facing around the world in epic proportions.

The heart- wrenching story of the people forced to eat dirt, got me thinking about our traditional approach to gardening. 

From my observations the primary purpose for using non-edible plant materials and 15 cm of precious life -giving soil in our landscaping is to make our property look more appealing and become more valuable in the real estate market.

Once again that forced me to ponder some pertinent ethical questions.

 With global overheating, the climate crisis and air-choking pollution partially caused from long distance transportation of fruits and vegetables, should I be using my precious soil for aesthetic purposes only? 

I began to check to see what I was growing that was already edible. 

I was pleasantly surprised!

The healthiest and most prolific were dandelions (an almost perfect food loaded with 74 essential

nutrients), the flowers of wood violets (loaded with Vit. C,) bloody dock, /Remux sanguinae (taste like spinach and a known cancer fighter), sweet woodruff flowers, day lilies, anise hyssop, and pansies. 

I then proceeded to plant all kinds of herbs and vegetables in among my rock garden and among my perennials and shrubs. 

And I am happy to report that half of the salad we eat every night comes from edible plants, flowers, and herbs from the garden. 

And best of all it's free! 

When you eat the salad you get and explosion of flavours. Yum! Yum!

Another thing I get free is wonderful mulch! 

I have a friend who just doesn't get it. 

I have talked until I'm blue in the face, but she believes her garden soil  should look pristine and should be and clean. 

At the back of her lot she has a dozen towering oaks and mature maples. 

Hard to believe but she does  NOT want her leaves. She gives them all to me.

 With my own leaves and her leaves some of my gardens are covered with 15-40 cm of leaves.

The perennials always manage to poke their way through the leaves, but most weeds are unsuccessful.