Are We Really The Gardener?

When reading about The One-Straw Revolution, I got to thinking about how I have viewed gardening all these years. Even with my houseplants, I feel as if I'm living more side-to-side with these beings rather than mastering them; however, I do have to care for them—at least at home. In the wild, the trees grow or not, the weeds grow, and wild flowers, etc. And ecosystem, which maybe is like a home and family. You all work together and the ones that work the best together thrive, the others fail or fall away.

In my garden, I prefer to have the weeds assisting. I don't mind pigweed, although I don't like it going to seed. I believe it is edible too. As a young woman I studied edible plants. Lambs quarters doesn't grow in this garden, and it's a good edible plant. Right now the fireweed is sprouting; I've never eaten the shoots, but they're supposed to be as tasty as asparagus. Of course, there are many berries to eat, and I saw a lot of wild strawberries when I was in the Oregon mountains.

When I lived in the Idaho mountains as a young married woman, my husband and I collected mushrooms and fried them in butter, our favorite being the morel, but the shaggy main was tasty and so was the puff ball. Once I ate too many coral mushrooms and felt a little weird. Some mushrooms have a chemical that is slightly toxic if consumed in any quantity. I've given up mushroom hunting, but would love to participate again. Recently a friend said his mother discovered a bunch of morels and I asked where and he said he couldn't say. That's the way it is with prize mushroom places.

Today I will plant those beets, promise. And perhaps pick some spinach for my dinner. I have some tomatoes coming on. The Green Zebra is very cute.
Ciao!