The Argument for Flowers

I've been making difficult choices lately.  Gardeners will know right away what I'm talking about.  There's a pile of seed packets and only so much space.

 

 

 

So how does one decide what to plant and what to save for another year?  Food is always a priority in my garden.  I love vegetables, feeding myself and my spouse with organic fresh food.  There's nothing better than pulling corn from the garden and throwing it straight into the pot to cook.  This year particularly my priority is vegetables as I intend to grow out seed for sale.  Home gardens have taken off in the last couple years and there's a lot of people looking for vegetable seed. 

 

 

I remember my mother telling me that when she grew up on the farm flowers were a luxury.  Food crops got the high priority space and flowers were an afterthought.  It was always more important to feed your family and her family considered flowers wasted space that could have grown food.  Yet I'm still attracted to flowers.  Their beauty lifts the soul, they invite you to look and they attract insects.  Yes you read that right.  They attract insects.  That's a good thing.

 

It's true mosquitos make me itch, and I get queasy at the sight of a june bug but the reality is that vegetable gardens require bees and beetles and all manner of flies in order to bear fruit.  If we don't plant flowers what will attract the bugs that pollinate our food?  So in addition to zucchini and tomatoes I will be making room for flowers.  Between the tomatoes and the corn there will be simple flowers with open faces to attract insects.  Double blooms are too difficult for many insects to access so I will plant single poppies, cosmos, and borage.  Borage particularly attracts beneficial insects such as honeybees and beneficial insects such as ladybugs.  Bees and butterflies love poppies.

My sea holly is always full of bees and hover flies.  By drawing these insects in I am ensuring a good harvest and my garden will also be a thing of beauty.

 

Accepting Change

The world feels broken right now.  For many reasons.

 

Here in Canada, the population's conflicting medical and political views recently resulted in an angry mob descending on our capital city and conducting a volatile sit in.  While I appreciate a good protest this was different.  What I have seen in the last months is not just frustration with medical protocols but includes threats, intimidation, racist, sexist, and homophobic behaviour.  People are expressing not just frustration but hatred toward points of view they don't share.  There is a level of intolerance that, while it doesn't completely surprise me, is disturbing in its size and vitriol. 

Why this has occurred is something the experts will probably analyze for years to come.  I am just one voice among many but it seems to me that the world has changed quickly and there are many who don’t like or want change.  I will admit I have a hard time with it too.  I’m getting older and change doesn’t come quite as easily as it once did.  I find myself frustrated at times, why am I always having to learn something new?  Why can’t things be consistent?  Good grief, I even have to learn new words.  I have a pretty broad vocabulary but I feel out of touch many days.  

Rapid change can be unsettling and, I think, cause fear.  Fear leads to anxiety, aggression, or panic.  It can be expressed in negative ways such as hostility, or anger.  The world has experienced so much change these past two years.  People have lost jobs, their daily schedules are altered, new rules are imposed, they fear for their health and the health of their loved ones.  Sadly these fears are being expressed as hostility and directed at people who inadvertently represent change.  Immigrants, nurses, politicians, people of colour, minorities and the LGBTQ community are some of the many who have anger directed at them. 

 

What is happening is not okay.  You can be frustrated with policies, you can protest to preserve rights.  But threatening people because they are unlike you and don't share your beliefs is unacceptable. We need to do better as a society.  I can't change the world but I personally can change.  I have previously been uncomfortable with the declaration of pronouns.  I didn't think it necessary.  But it has occurred to me that it is necessary for some people.  By displaying their pronouns they are putting themselves at risk but also proudly expressing who they are and asking for respect.  It's a small step but what better way to show support, to let people know that I am a safe haven and respect them.  Let's leave hate and fear behind and let our fellow citizens know they are loved and supported.   Let's tell the world we have their back.  Change can be good.

Marguerite

She/Her