Creating a culture where edible, organic landscaping is the preferred usage of
land in urban/suburban areas is an ongoing Green project. Taking the same
resource inputs that go into lawn care and transferring them in gardening would
allow for less stress on agricultural/wild lands. So far I have planted 16
fruit trees on a city lot in Venice and have converted the front yard into a
vegetable/herb/flower garden. No organic material leaves the yard as it is all
composted. There are: corn, sunflowers, tomato's, zucchini, tomatillos,
radishes, onions, leeks, mustard greens, rosemary, cilantro, sage, lemon balm,
sorrel, mint, curry, oregano, and marjoram; to list only a few of the
veggies/herbs and a host of flowers right on Venice Boulevard. The neighbors
love the yard and I am always giving away herbs and veggies. Showing by example
works and is a pattern to consider.
There are economic consequences to converting to an edible, organic
landscape. Import-Substitution is the term for the activity. This usually
applies to nations, but can also be used for regions as well. By producing much
of my own food I am not buying as much from the grocery store as I have
substituted my own produce for what was being imported from the Central Valley
and Mexico. Thus, for every dollar I have not spent at the grocery store I have
a dollar that I can spend in other ways. And I am eating healthier food that is
locally grown. The only input imported is the water. But, instead of using the
water for the "perfect monocultured lawn", there is a wide diversity of flora
that allows for a diversity of fauna. The pineapple sage attracts humming birds
with its red flowers, as one example. The squirrels got real fat off the
sunflowers last year, they tore through them, but somehow I did not mind. There
are always birds, butterflies and all sorts of insects in the
yard, as there are no pesticide to harm them. Yes, the aphids and snails can
be a problem at times, but you learn integrated pest management, and by having
a diversity of flora do not have the infestations that mono cropping allows.
Further, since I am always out weeding, shoveling and engaging in physical
activity, my own physical health is better. And my psychological health is
improved by the exercise, the sense of connection to the land and the positive
interactions with my neighbors.
The Sunflower Project is the promotion of Edible, Organic Landscaping. It is
done by example and by promotion. A local church run thrift store is now taking
the seedlings I grow in plastic six-packs reused from a local community garden
and almost giving them away. I give them to the thrift store and they make them
available to a community that has traditional problems, the Oakwood
neighborhood of Venice, which was the only place where blacks could live in
Venice when it was founded are there were racial deed restrictions.
The Sunflower project could be used by every local to transform its
community. Sunflower days could be a fundraiser each spring with seeds and
seedlings made available for sale. The Sunflower is the Green Party symbol and
is promoted with this marketing. Sunflowers grow fast and make many seeds that
have a wide variety of beneficial uses. May every local have its own Sunflower
Project!
Peace,
Will Yeager
Venice, California
310-804-9916
---------------------------------
Open multiple messages at once with the all new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
