Sunday, February 24, 2008 Regenerating life By Leticia Suarez-Orendain
IT’S Sunday.
Take your morning cup of coffee or orange juice—not in your usual place at the table. Take it by the living room.
Once there, gaze out of the window. Imagine yourself being surrounded by friendly faces. It feels warm and nice, doesn’t it? Just the thought makes you smile.
Whose faces do you see?
Chances are you don’t think of pretty flowers greeting you first thing in the morning. That’s probably because you have no garden. So, let Sun.Star Cebu Live take you today to a tour with Mother Nature through organic gardening.
Don’t say you live in an apartment, which makes gardening impossible. No, sir, gardening is still possible. Haven’t you heard of huge flowerpots?
Buy your flower, ornamental, and herbal stocks from reliable sources, and head on to organic gardening.
This big word simply means you are being friendly to Mother Nature. You regenerate life in her. You are not using synthetic products, including pesticides and fertilizer, to nurture your little friends.
You cooperate with Mother Nature by feeding her babies (i.e. plants) with compost.
The wikipedia suggests that for home-scale composting, “mixing the materials as they are added increases the rate of decomposition, but it can be easier to place the materials in alternating layers, approximately six inches thick, to help estimate the quantities.”
There is sadness when something dies or fades, even if it’s just a carpet of fallen leaves covering your front yard.
But you can regenerate life using decaying plants. Everything from grass clipping, dried leaves and kitchen scraps to fish entrails can be used as compost material to fatten the soil.
It’s a fact that organic gardening means sharing your roses, beans, okra and tomatoes with worms. However, there are natural ways to discourage busy bugs.
Like all soldiers, your first line of defense is vigilance. Inspect your plants daily for signs of trouble. Act fast. Pick off worms and bugs, and add them to your compost pile.
There are other friendly ways of dealing with trouble.
Lady bugs and parasitic wasps enjoy an aphid feast. Birds love snacking on grubs. Frogs, and lizards help maintain the ying and yang in your garden, and prevent pests from overrunning your secret garden.
You will be richly rewarded by your little garden. Your potted roses and marigolds will greet you every morning with a song of praise. The tiny plots of beans, tomatoes and okra will beam with joy at your sight.
The growing things around you will affirm your role as a constant gardener. You have regenerated new life into dead leaves, and have transferred this cycle of life into juvenile plants.
You have become a co-worker with Mother Nature.
As you sip your coffee, you will feel new leaves of hope and joy.
