The Otherfish Wrap: Twelve "First Steps" for the New Gardener.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Twelve "First Steps" for the New Gardener.

1. Mulch. Never let soil remain bare. Organic, seed free materials work best.
2. Provide drainage for any potted plants. Roots need air as well as water.
3. Always plant at least one tomato plant.
4. Simplify lawn care to allow more time for your garden. Let grass stay 2-3" (5-7.5cm) high.
5. Always plant trees with the root flare exposed.
6. Compost! About 1/3 brown stalks & stems, 1/3 green leafy material, 1/3 food scraps. (Add a handful of soil from time to time to inoculate the pile with beneficial microbes and organisms.)
7. Plant the right plants in the right places. (Light, moisture, Ph, etc.)
8. Don't curse the earth, work with what you have.
9. Covet your neighbor's perennials.
10. Have one of each perennial.
11. Raised beds make weeding easier, extend the growing season and conserve water and your effort.
12. Use rain barrels for free, chlorine-free water, priceless in nearly any clime.

This was adapted from a top ten list that I saw on local public television. Please share it around with anyone who is thinking about starting a garden. We all benefit from one anothers successes!

Peace all!

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Becoming Change Agents

Over the last half century, I have received comments like "What?" As if people could not understand basic fact. "Are you nuts?", carrying the implication that my reality is fiction. "That will never work.", as if they have forgotten that our history is studded with impossible tasks that we got done by sheer force of will and tenacity. It seems that as the American dream has slipped further and further from the reach of the common man, (and I mean hu-man and woman)we have forgotten what made America (and by this I mean these United States of America)great. Oddly enough, the things that have come naturally to me that have been violently opposed, questioned and denied any sort of consideration have nearly always come to pass after a generation or so. Being aware back in the seventies that one day water would be sold just like soda pop, but for a higher price was pure science fiction.People laughed, but today Coca-cola rushes in to "save" people from devastating floods and water contamination with their bottled Desani water. "Better than" ordinary water they claim and therefore the price, higher than soda seems justifiable. Our relationship to water has been changed forever because the substance necessary for life has been transformed into a commodity by those who seek to profit from the availability and purity of the "product". This commodification has led Coca-cola to purchase rights to the water in the Ganges and I'm sure that they have their eyes on the Great Lakes, as a potential "property" as well. The longer we stand idly by, hands in pockets, the harder it will be to wrest control from the deities of commercialism. Talking the talk for decades, I have noticed an ever increasing realization that "Hey, Tony was right." That thing you said about climate change back in the seventies sounded like an impossibility back then, but hey, now we all see the truth of the matter. The ruling class of millionaires transforming themselves into billionaires at our expense is hazardous for our democracy. The rapid increase in energy being expended to wrest the last drops of oil from shale and tar sands is a net loss of energy, even though production continues. We must all speak with one voice about the rapid changes that are occurring. The art and science of sustainability have been reduced to one word, green. Never have so many clung disingenuously to a single word that seems designed to cover all manner of sins perpetrated upon the Earth, her people and the marketplace. Even the marketplace of ideas seems to have become commandeered by the same people who brought us the Exxon Valdez catastrophe, Tepco's Fukushima Diiachi melt down and the oil spills that are ruining forever vast acreage across the heartland, as well as the Mississippi River. When BP advertises that their initials stand for "Beyond Petroleum", it only means that they are sucking up as much government subsidy as we offer for "research" into technologies that have been around for 100 years. The highest number of passive solar homes in the U. S. were built in the 1930s, because people knew that the sun was a reliable source of heat energy, especially during the times of day that most people are active. I have seen these homes and they are still saving energy and precious fuel many decades later. The people who got behind the Main Line in Philadelphia knew that only having one car and using mass transit for their daily commute could help them to save the money to educate their children, keep their homes up and to live a better lifestyle for less. Nowadays, corporations have their insidious tentacles into us so deep that transit of any kind threatens their profit margin. We all end up subsidizing their expensive and lavish lifestyles borne on the backs of the environment, and our future generations. We each need to talk about these and other issues that have been covered up for generations, so that the level of awareness rises above the level that Fox News wants us to fall to. The race to the bottom has only produced a new cadre of couch potatoes. Tee-vee glotzers as Nina Hagen called them. We may need to join hands with others, march in protests, hold signs, blockade places of business that continue to ransack the commons and destroy our birthright for their greed and profitability. Walk, bike, carpool and combine trips to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Insulate, buy efficient equipment. Teach your children and do not take no for an answer. All truth goes through three stages. First, it is vehemently denied, then it is questioned and finally, if we are around long enough, it is accepted as self-evident. Becoming agents of change requires a new set of values, as new language to speak of the things that we are up against and a tenacity similar to that which allowed us to complete the Erie Canal, build the transcontinental railroad and the interstate highway system. We can pull ourselves out of the depression, but it will take more focused effort and co-operation than the billionaires can buy. We must not let them buy our silence, because in silence lies complicity.

Earth Religions Gaining Converts

"Neo-tribal, Animist, Pagan seeks fellow searchers to sanctify human interaction with the planet. Meeting eight times per year, at the quarters and cross quarters near Green Bay, Wisconsin." "Naturalist and Shaman in search of community, willing to heal for food. Experience includes feng shui, hand fasting, earth energy work, gardening for health and personalized healing rites." "Herbalist Elder willing to share in-depth knowledge of native medicinal plants with people who have a range of illnesses from acne to arthritis, bronchitis to bloating, and cardio-vascular disease to cysts." "Permaculture landscape designer with a penchant for earth worship willing to travel to help create the right sacred grove or stone circle. Serious inquiries only. Contact on the new moon for best results." These are just a few of the next generation of personal ads that people will be sharing if current trends continue. In fact, each could be posted by me! After nearly fifty years of paying attention, many of my insights have led to truths beyond books, the encyclopedia, beyond what colleges and universities deem valuable, and beyond the strictures of many old belief systems. Many who have grown up in the new age era have gone beyond the sidewalks of organized religion and have found new ways to explore their spirituality. Along with our new politics, the new economic realities and the utter failure of systems to control or further the moral standing of many in our culture, more and more Americans are looking outside mainstream religion for a meaningful relationship with the planet, one another and our communities. Underlying the climate change issue is the business as usual issue. Power brokers of the past hope to continue to grow their wealth and power in the future, but the people are beginning to wake up to the facts. Especially the greed and deception that has been rampant in our culture. Religious groups that are apolitical are losing their grasp on their adherents. Complacency is no longer a tenable position to hold. Social change, economic change, environmental change and the harmonic of spiritual change are all related. Some, wanting to discredit the movement toward change try to gloss over the hippy culture's preoccupation with Peace, Love and "tuning-in". They remind us of the evil sounding parts, "turning-on" and "dropping-out". Even though some hippies just wanted the "free love" for the resulting "meaningless sex", many truly had the welfare of others in the forefront of their minds throughout the sixties, seventies and still hold the dream in their hearts. Remember, these old hippies are now turning seventy! The Rainbow Family of Light and Love still exists. This tribe retreats into nature to reestablish ties to the planet. Yoga centers abound in most US cities. When I was a child, there were relatively few spread across the country. Paganspace.net has grown to over 26,000 people in just over a year. It is a wonderful social networking site for adherents of a variety of earth religions. Alternative energy and conservation is becoming the norm. Even the indigo children are coming of age at a time when massive change will be required to avert catastrophe. The air is tainted with toxic compounds in most American cities, our water carries carcinogens and pharmaceutical drugs. Food laced with corn, oil, sugar, anti-biotics, chemical residues and corporate welfare subsidies is presented right next to organic and whole food. Choice is becoming a moral imperative, informed choice is essentially our only hope of surviving into the future. Why should we not scrap the religions of the ancestors who brought us to the brink of desolation? As open-minded as we have become, there are still a few who cling to the big three religions, but as more and more people develop empathy for the planet as a whole, the earth exploiting belief systems that flowed from them are being rejected. A new way of seeing the world demands a new way of worship, sanctification and service. National Public Radio had a wonderful program on this sea change in public opinion. The author of a book called "Deep Green Religion" spoke quite cogently on this very topic. I am looking forward to reading his tome on this epic trend that has the power to unseat the necrotic grasp that established religions have on the spirit of our nation. Anyone who has spent much time in nature will know that the direct experience of God/esses creation far surpasses the power of any temple to move us, to inspire, educate and release us from our mundane existence.

When I made the commitment to publish seven posts per month over seven years ago...

I never intended to self-publish news and information, current events stories or as many personal stories as I have. When I started, over seven years ago, seven posts a month seemed as if it might be too few, but I found out, this is a huge number of posts to write. Some news heavy posts have taken days to write, many hours to research and sometimes weeks of switching things around to get the flow I look for. I have worked hard to keep this site free and free of advertisers, please help with what you can afford. If you really want to help the cause, I accept contributions from individuals only, much like Bernie Sanders. My run for Congress is to represent the people of Northeast Wisconsin (WI-08) Like or share any of my posts on your favorite social media source. It is long past time for action. Science has known what needs doing for fifty years it is time to get on with it!

The Otherfish Wrap

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Twelve "First Steps" for the New Gardener.

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Becoming Change Agents

Earth Religions Gaining Converts

When I made the commitment to publish seven posts per month over seven years ago...

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