Around my block everyone is spending time outdoors, digging in, weeding, fighting common pests. In this watery world I live in, the biggest problems are slugs, birds, weeds and back pains. Today, I'm right in this spot for a good part of the day, or until my sore muscles and aching back will cause me to return indoors to my easy chair.
A tender lettuce starter will be consumed by slugs in no time if I don't sprinkle eggshells all around and provide netting to keep birds out. Oh, I can use some commercial product that guarantees instant results. But, I'm concerned about water quality, insects, other animals that roam and feed on this land. I just want to be able to taste this lettuce in a week or two, perhaps collect its seeds for another round.
The black cloth is porous, allows water through, but not light, thus protecting my tender shoots from invading weeds. Here too, there are many commercial products. My instinct is to resist any and all of them, especially in the light of what has happened to our seeds now that most of them have been engineered to resist herbicides. Imagine, a seed that controls its enemies! But, the same seed cannot produce viable seeds. That is messing with the cycle of life and I want nothing to do with that.
To read about seeds and the progress we have made, and the problems associated with our commercial food production read Michael Pollan and go visit Sophie Munns at:
Homage to the Seed
Happy gardening, wherever you are.
