Between climate change, pollution, war, gun violence, and erosion of basic human rights, things are looking a little dire right now, and people are getting exhausted, myself included. This post looks at Nervous System Dysregulation as a result of chronic stress, as well as what individuals can do to step back and view the long path of advocacy as a marathon, not a sprint.
Yarrow has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb. Not native to North America, but naturalized, it was an early addition to my garden, and that choice ensured a healthy supply of flowers when I brewed a yarrow ale for a class I was teaching on herbed medieval ales. Even with all my research, it had one more surprise in store for me.
No Mow May is a new trend sweeping the yards of mindful (or lazy – I don’t judge) homeowners. Whether you decide to forgo mowing your lawn for the entire month of May, mow less often than usual, or sow seeds for grass alternatives in your lawn, there are valuable steps you can take to support biodiversity and feed pollinators in your yard.
At least according to some, the decision of whether you buy a real or plastic tree doesn’t have as much of an environmental impact as what you choose to do with it once you have it. Getting rid of your real tree at the end of the season can be confusing, especially if it’s unclear what the most eco-friendly end-of-life decision is.
I recently heard that the recycler near my house was accepting plastics #1 through #7, and I was incredibly skeptical. Plastics are difficult and expensive to recycle, which is why they almost exclusively become trash, winding up in the landfill, the incinerator, or the ocean. While this new program isn’t recycling the plastic, it is repurposing them for the time being.
Getting back from a restorative two-week vacation, I talked a big game about making time for myself on a regular basis. Recognizing that I’m in a job with higher stakes than I’ve ever had before and that my physical and mental health could be at stake if I don’t make myself a priority, it’s time to make good on that claim.
I know that gardening is a lot of work, but I also know that it brings me a lot of joy – eventually. There are weeds that need to come out and plants that need to go in, and I try to make choices by considering the impacts on the pollinators I am trying to feed and the healthy ecosystem I am trying to create.
A common struggle for any gardener or farmer is keeping groundhogs away. Many natural and/or humane methods of groundhog control are ineffective, but killing animals is not an option for me. Furthermore, dispatching the groundhogs deals with the symptom, not the problem, and leaves a move-in ready home for the next family. The best solution is making your yard undesirable in the first place.
Our extensive weeds neither know or care whose property they’re on, and our neighbors all use heavy-duty weed killers that I don’t want in my yard. Since the best defense is a good offense, I took it upon myself to preemptively clear my neighbors’ weeds (getting their permission first) trying out several organic methods on a range of weeds, including poison ivy.
My ongoing war with weeds in our yard is exhausting and neverending. While I’ve made some good progress in the front yard over the last few years, the jungle back along the property line is made up of some truly formidable opponents that won’t give up. The worst part is that weeds don’t respect property lines, so my theater of battle has expanded.