Much of the farming we see embraces death and destruction in order to get a yield. The “enemies” of a crop are sprayed with poisons. The ground is beaten into submission and soaked with chemical fertilizers.
The tiny living creatures which attempt to live in these fields find themselves in a dangerous and inhospitable place. Bees get poisoned, spiders get crushed, worms get chopped into pieces, etc.
It’s hard to grow food on a large scale without causing a certain amount of destruction. Trying to avoid killing anything is difficult and may not even be a correct goal, as some things just need killing. I can’t imagine growing enough corn for all the tortilla chips consumed during an American summer without big tilled fields filled with rows of corn fed by chemical fertilizers and harvested with specialized equipment that cares nothing for the tiny lives of ladybugs and crab spiders.
But in a backyard garden there’s no need to roast everything. Instead, we should embrace and encourage life, with the notable exception of the squirrels that steal our heirloom corn. We know what to do with those.
Overall, I like lots of life in my garden. It’s great to see butterflies, bees, beetles, spiders, dragonflies, praying mantises, toads, lizards and worms. Yeah, we have some leaf-footed bugs and cabbage moths, but they aren’t huge issues. The sheer amount of plant species and hiding places for predators keep things somewhat under control. This doesn’t look like a typical row garden and doesn’t have the same pest problems either.
We had worse problems last fall and in early spring before we built our Grocery Row Gardens and added all the other plant species. Look at the picture above and imagine how many hiding places there are in there! Then imagine all the roots in the ground and the micro-life that those roots bring. Lots and lots and lots of life.
If I were to spray malathion now it would be a desecration. I’d kill countless good guys. The gardens are now beyond that. It’s not a monoculture system that needs tilling and spraying. It’s developed into a forest edge polyculture. God’s design is taking over and the checks and balances are falling into place.
Stop spraying, plant lots of different species together, then watch and see what happens. Life will arrive!
Embrace life and see what little miracles come your way.
You can have greener thumbs by this weekend!
7 comments
Excellent article, and spot on. God’s design is perfect, and everything falls into place by His providence and grace when we follow Him.
I sprayed neem for the first time this season a couple days ago because aphids infested my yard-long beans. I waited until late evening, so as not to hurt any pollinators. Up until now, I haven’t had any issues but the weather has changed and in they came. I still see ladybugs, wasps and other predators in my food forest and annual garden. So maybe this was an isolated incident but I wasn’t taking that chance because my bush beans are yielding too little already and these beans have already outpaced them and they just started producing.
I definitely notice each year that the life in my food forest and annual garden increases as I make improvements and add new plants. My grandson loves to see the birds, tree frogs, butterflies, dragonflies and bees. I can’t wait to see his mind blown when he sees the hummingbirds that live here. His old kiddie pool is full of water with tadpoles and he is excited that they will turn into frogs.
I love what you’re doing with the grocery rows and I have noticed more perennials making their way into my annual garden. I’m also looking at ways to incorporate more annuals into the food forest. So thanks for that.
Looking GOOD!
I love the concept. It’s like a garden that God creates in a forest.
Love this! I have my husband pulling weeds to make weed tea/fetid swamp water…the problem is mine has a ph of 10-11 with no dropping after for weeks with adding acid things. I left it alone for a week too, no dropping. We have lots of iron in our water, could that cause it? What can I do? This happened last year and I had to give up on it. I can’t understand saurkraut gets acid, why is this staying so high alkaline?
William, one lady plants certain things she knows will get aphids (a magnet) near her “precious” crops, they go to the magnet thing and leave her other things alone. For her and for me that is calendula (not all of it gets aphid covered, but lots does.)
Man, I LOVE looking at your grocery row gardens! We have a similar system, but it’s a bit neglected and not as lush. Spring is coming early, hear in southeast Queensland. Feeling inspired to add some more fertility to the soil, and add more life. Thanks for sharing your glorious garden’s progress!
You bet.
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