tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post6749972407552879982..comments2023-12-18T17:32:03.325+00:00Comments on Kindred of the Quiet Way: Garden surprisesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-14061995144762120112019-07-19T07:38:56.399+01:002019-07-19T07:38:56.399+01:00A Japanese family! What a lovely memory. I am intr...A Japanese family! What a lovely memory. I am intrigued by and attracted to Japanese culture. I'd love to know a Japanese family, I think I could learn a lot from them.<br />In my Plain dressing days, I came across someone else (there are very, very few in the UK) wearing Plain dress in England — a woman called Alice. We were friends on Facebook, so I got to see something of what was on her mind and how she spent her time. She helped set up a large community garden in the town where she lived, and grew a lot in her own garden. This was almost ten years ago now, but something she said made a deep impression on me and has lodged in my mind ever since. Alice thought all of us in these present times should in some way prioritise food production. That resonated with me. The infrastructure we have enjoyed for so long still continues, and we do have the information (should we choose to act on it) to re-green the world's deserts through permaculture and managed herding; but the kingdom of Mammon — the oil dependency, the mass production, the consumerism, the slavery and greed and power struggles — has such a grip upon us that I think healing the Earth is so uncertain as to be frankly unlikely. <br />One of the few and small things individuals can do (these include reducing consumption, reducing the waste we generate, espousing minimalism and living simply) is to foster local and personal food production of a nature to nourish and cherish the Earth. Plant one fruit tree, two if there is space. Trees need very little care, they slow down the movement of water through the landscape, the reduce the need for air-conditioning, they stabilise the top-soil. Then, in one's garden, there is usually space for one zucchini plant. Maybe in the flower beds or at the edge of the lawn there could be space for one row of curly kale. If a person had at least a medium sized yard, there could be space for one tripod of pole beans. A person who planted these things would have sufficient veggies for herself through the summer and early fall. Kale fresh from the garden is quite different from that sold in the shops. It is tender. Delicious. Veggies cut at supper time for supper fulfil the Ayurvedic advice to eat your food within 2 hrs of it having been growing in the garden. If the tree planted is a cherry, one can stand under eat eating handfuls of cherries straight from the tree. If the second one is an apple, then for days and days one can pick an apple a day straight from the tree to eat.<br />Plants do well with nitrogen fertiliser to feed them. Human pee has lots of this. If one pees into a bucket at least once a day, dilutes it generously with the rainwater one has collected from the roof, one then has free fertiliser to feed the earth in which the plants will grow. And of course a composter will turn all veggie scraps from the kitchen into food for plants.<br />I'm sure none of this is news to you! But the thing is, it's so easy — and I cannot quite put my finger on why, but I do believe Alice was right. If we grow at least some of our own food, we'll be travelling in the right direction. Cash crops overseas must surely be part of the desertification process; diverse planting locally must be part of the Earth's health. Even if it were only for the bees. <br />xxPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-77351449940630114202019-07-19T02:35:04.827+01:002019-07-19T02:35:04.827+01:00I am one of the few Minnesotans I know who doesn&#...I am one of the few Minnesotans I know who doesn't garden. I grew up in Southern California and my parents had a Japanese family as our gardeners, who came every Saturday to make everything pretty and trimmed. No vegetable gardens, though. I think it might be too late to take it up, but I heartily admire anyone who grows good things to eat and/or pretty things to look at. Julie B.http://www.justjulieb.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-73561096016531171932019-07-17T13:31:27.278+01:002019-07-17T13:31:27.278+01:00Ooh, yes please! Send me your thoughts by email. I...Ooh, yes please! Send me your thoughts by email. I love thoughts. Rare commodities! I will speak to our Hebe about the fennel seeds. She was keen to keep them for the birds, I think — and the pollinator insects are enjoying the flowers. So we may leave them. We don't really mind them elsewhere in the garden, it's just that the veggie patch is small. I think I won't give fennel houseroom next year. The thing is, our compost is so good that all the plants do rather spectacularly well, so we have to be choosy!Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-74344920715581676662019-07-17T12:10:56.887+01:002019-07-17T12:10:56.887+01:00Hi Pen, eBay Clare here again.
"Suggestion o...Hi Pen, eBay Clare here again.<br /><br />"Suggestion only" - as my now sadly deceased old friend Bernard used to say before offering one of his golden nuggets of gardening advice - but if you really don't want fennel any more, do cut off the flowers before they seed or you'll be pulling up dozens of offspring next year! <br /><br />I love your garden tours - they make me pine for previous gardens, but also encourage me to spend more time in my little yard among my pots. <br /><br />"A yearning for quiet": this phrase in your comment about reactions against social media and the simple, quiet life, in response to mine about trolling on eBay, struck such a chord with me that I immediately started a "brief" comment which turned into an essay! So I copied it into a document and didn't deleted it. Maybe I'll edit and send it via email sometime.<br /><br />Love C xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-21022058085257745162019-07-16T19:27:00.483+01:002019-07-16T19:27:00.483+01:00Yes! I think it's operating the "Gather r...Yes! I think it's operating the "Gather round everybody!" principle that Marie Kondo mentions.Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-58161974279568485402019-07-16T17:45:43.324+01:002019-07-16T17:45:43.324+01:00Your garden as either 1/ not taken lessons in mini...Your garden as either 1/ not taken lessons in minimalism, or 2/ decided the more the merrier. Or perhaps it is both!The Rev. Susan Creightonhttp://www.holydwelling.comnoreply@blogger.com