Post 29 Nature Lovers?

NATURE LOVERS?

We should love the snail and slug
That leave those shining silver trails
And hide in every garden corner
But we prefer more adorable fauna
That look so cute with smiley eyes
And lovely fluffy wagging tails

And when we venture out of doors
To revel in a Summer’s day
The myriad gnats that float and hover
Can be regarded as a bother
Unneeded in the scheme of things
But to the dragonfly, they’re prey

Those flies with allegedly grubby feet
That land where we don’t want them to
And regularly risk extermination
When we react with irritation
Are only clearing up our waste
That we’ve forgotten how to do 

We’re so divorced from nature’s ways
We often only feel alarm
When spiders speed across the floor
Or beetles venture through the door
Invading humans private space
But not intending any harm

 

 

I read that, in the USA, they are getting worried about the depletion of insects; partly caused by the indiscriminate and prolific spraying of mosquitoes, by those attempting to enjoy the outdoor life. Unfortunately, this practice kills all the other insects as well; especially the ‘useful’ ones, that should go on to fertilize the dependent plants.

Walk along any aisles in stores that have gardening sections, and you will encounter whole lengths of shelving dedicated to killing; from slugs and snails, ants, wasps, aphids, caterpillars, worms, beetles, sawflys, moths, weevils, eelworms, midges, greenfly . . . You get the picture.

I would like to think that the penny would have dropped by now; and people would pause for thought before they buy that pesticide, or herbicide, to make their lives more comfortable, in the short term. Whichever way you cut it, our interventions are not helping. When we kill the insects and bugs, we break the food chain. No grubs for birds, no insects for bats, no moths for the owl, a silent predator that flies in the night.

The ever increasing loss of diversity, in plants and animals, especially with big business methods of agriculture, is becoming close to being unable to be retrieved or reversed. Technology will have a part to play in relearning how to be sustainable, but we need to know, now, why we are at this crossroads.

I think our crisis is so all encroaching, that ALL poisons being sold on the domestic retail market, should be BANNED; with the eventual aim of severely curtailing their use in big business agriculture. At least that would give our gardens, and gardeners, a chance to break their reliance on quick fixes; and, by doing so, discover that nature knows best; given half a chance. I think I can hear the cries of ‘what’s the point’ when these poisonous products are being used on such a massive scale by agribusiness.

But, make no mistake, gardens, and gardeners, are more important than ever. I read somewhere that the total area of gardens in the UK could grow nearly all the veg that we now import; not including the ‘exotics’ (avocados, okra, etc.). And, if we also planted fruit and nut trees, that would provide a hefty slice of those comestibles as well. During Covid so many of us discovered the joyous satisfaction of growing stuff; and just being in a garden. That interest can now be put to good use. We are going to appreciate our burgeoning gardening skills; much like we had to after the second world war, when our gardens, and allotments were ubiquitous, and proved an absolute necessity.

With ‘no dig’ and ‘no kill’, mulching and composting,  insect and bird friendly organic practice; coupled with the growing movement of regenerative farming, we should find that it’s possible to become good gardeners, and farmers again; with the increase in our insect, bug and bird life being the proof of the pudding!.