Thanks for the great information, Gavin. I will continue to read the book review and keep it as a resource for future soil health efforts. I have ordered the book selected for the next reading and look forward to participating more fully in that. I appreciate your work.
So, about Master Gardeners. 😁. I think I’ve shared a bit with you once a while back about my experiences with them, but one story in particular came to mind while reading your book review, so I just thought I’d share. It’s about coercion and requires a bit of backstory.
I was involved with Master Gardeners here in East Texas for a few years when I first moved here. At the time I was new to gardening and to TX, so it was a good fit. I learned quite a bit, like most state-sponsored programs it’s well-organized and has decent training and I’m used to these kinds of rigid structures after so many decades in academia. We did community outreach programs like ‘Victory Gardens’ which I really enjoyed, where we put together raised beds for folks who wanted to learn gardening and gave them basic tools and seeds and education. Of course, the tools and seeds were donated from Lowe’s and the lumber from some other corporation and it was all about ‘relationship building’ which means the fascistic brand of relationships between the state and the corporation, not the community kind where we actually focus on the relationships with the people. And that’s where this little story start.
Master Gardeners in this area is 75% older ladies, all volunteers, with a paid man at the top. When I say older I mean at 50 I was the youngest and most were in their 70s. The meetings were as boring as you can imagine, with all the duties of any well-orchestrated club, budgets and proposals and reading the minutes. Total Yawnville. And then it got worse because the old tolerable man left and an eager young Kafkaesque Administrator took his place. He was rather appalled at the lackadaisical way our operation was being run and immediately started to tighten up the procedures. Starting with, everyone had to have federal background checks. First I balked, then I openly complained, then I started to warn the other ladies, then I quit.
The excuse used for this ridiculous protocol was that since we occasionally work around children, like with the above mentioned Victory Gardens, where sometimes the family’s children would be involved, they must worry about pedophiles. Pedophiles! Of course all the ladies nod in unison, oh, yes, we wouldn’t want any pedophiles to sneak into our ranks. And they hand over their social security numbers to this new power-hungry Admin dude. WTH? Can you not look at yourselves and each other and see there are no pedos among us?! Do you not understand that convicted pedophiles are registered and anyone can get access to that info without a formal federal background check? Do you not want to know what data they are actually gathering about all of us?
And this is what I mean by coercion—it still makes me mad! Mad at the system, yes, but also mad at all those who just keep going along with it, no logic, no questions asked!
As an older woman and a new Master Gardener, I have to laugh in recognition at your post. I was very angry when I was recently told I had to have a background check in order to participate in events. Then I found out I had already allowed them to do a check when I registered for the class in January 2023. I guess for me back then it did not seem as invasive, but this time I was angry also.
The Master Gardeners here do a lot of really good things. Yes, we are mostly older, and we are considering how to engage younger members. We have a few and they are great. Yes, the group is part of the established university system and its rigidity shows. However, I am slowly trying to move us away from lockstep with the university and hope to save the baby and throw away the bath water, a process to which I refer in a recent essay.
I really appreciate you sharing your story. I don't feel quite so alone.
Glad to hear of your valiant efforts Laura! Would be interested to read your essay if you can provide the link? I wonder how much you might be able to glean from those trying to save our institutions from the inside, something I’ve given up long ago as you can tell. Here is one who really gets what we are up against, perhaps our ‘essays’ can still make a difference. https://open.substack.com/pub/drjacobnordangard/p/the-ultimate-goal-of-the-pact-for?r=apljy&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for replying. I don't believe we can save our institutions as they are. My writing and work is based on believing we can figure out new, better ways to operate without "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." I no longer fight people's narrow perceptions; I try to model better and keep strengthening my connection to Life aka Something Greater than Ourselves in order to access a greater wisdom from which to make choices. Everything we do to grow healthy food is very important.
Hi Gavin! Well, this is a lot to absorb and I will come back to it and also the videos when I have more time to devote to it. I just wanted to mention that over the past few months I've done a deep dive into the Dust Bowl and my mind has been blown. It started out with a work of fiction which led me down a rabbit hole (pun intended because of what happened with giant rabbits) and finally this documentary by Ken Burns https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-dust-bowl/. What happened back then should be a giant cautionary tale. On a good note, so many people like you are talking about SOIL and how important it is.
At the risk of drawing negativity my way, I'm going to go out on a limb and mention that RFK Jr. and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan are both talking nonstop about the importance soil can make in healing the planet. Both of them have spent a lot of time doing podcasts with farmers talking about all the issues around this topic. While two people are certainly not going to make everything hunky dory - it takes all of us - it sure would be nice having someone in government take a leading role in breaking apart toxic structures and helping build healthy ones.
Much love to you, my Nature-loving brother to the north. 💚
Hello Soul Sister from the north! (I think that due to the shape of the US/Canada border we are actually south of you) :)
I really appreciate your input on this.
Ya the "dust bowl" is really a recurring phenomenon in the human story that has corroded the foundations of many seemingly mighty civilizations throughout the last few millennia. We only see the flashy images and stories of the desertification and mass soil erosion event that happened in the states because that is where the focus of our mass media apparatus is pointed, (and they did not have cameras back in Rome etc). We can look to the soil to tell the story however, and even now, if you look in the so called "cradles of civilization" (and by that i mean white washed, anthropocentric, victors write the history books, imperialistic type civilizations) you will invariably find evidence of "dust bowl" events (and worse). The story of monoculture based agriculture is the story of the destruction of the soil (slowly but surely) and the lesser acknowledged resulting destabilization and starvation of human societies and other beings.
I really appreciate you highlighting how important it is to take care of the fabric of all life on earth (which feeds us, creates and stabilizes the rain, re-fills our wells, cleans the water, and recycles death into the potential for new life again) which is Soil.
I am glad you brought up RFK and the role of governments in these aspects of our shared reality.
From the little bit I have seen, I admire RFK's willingness to stand up to big pharma, big ag and the banksters (on occasion). I know some people have freaked out about his position on the Israel situation, but I am honestly not that interested in which side he cheers for (or doesn't myself).
The eternal optimist (and life long conditioned statist) in me wants people like RFK and Pierre Poilievere (here in Canada) to win the election and become leaders that use their "power" to truly represent the will of the people, help heal our relationship with nature and reign in corporate corruption.
The realist in me (and my eternal spirit which has witnessed many political theatric performances unfold over countless centuries on Earth and beyond) however sees the inevitable result when good people with truly noble goals manage to find their way into systemically corrupt and immoral systems.
One, they are either slowly but surely corrupted by the system they sought to change from the inside out, through relentless, corrosive, and strategically focused pressures coming from all angles (corporate lobbyists, bribes, banksters threats, vanity, greed, fear and more) or Two, they are exceptional human beings and they resist all attempts to corrupt them, leading to one of the multi-generational organized crime syndicates (big oil, big ag, big pharma, military industrial complex, big tech or banksters) that run all national governments on Earth calling in a hit on them and making them have an unfortunate accident, sudden medical condition or, if all else fails, just flat out shooting them in the head as they did with RFK's uncle (when he decided to audit the Federal Reserve and call out the corrupt elements behind statist regimes).
So while I theoretically agree with your sentiment that someone like RFK (or Pierre here in Canada) would certainly be an improvement compared to those that currently claim the throne of the involuntary governance structures we live under (which use the threat of violence, kidnapping and murder to take our money and allocate it to what they, or in an ideal situation, a majority of what some other group of people think it should be spent on in our region) I also do not want to use my free will to contribute towards effectively sentencing those people to death. As if they are indeed honorable individuals, as they seem to be, voting them into a system that crushes and silences truth speakers, and attempts to bribe, threaten, blackmail and murders those with unshakable integrity, would be cheering for their inevitable untimely death.
Thus, rather than invest my hopes, faith, and energy in involuntary governance structures (that are inherently corrupt, immoral and headed for imploding) I invest my hope, faith, love and energy in aligning with the regenerative capacity and creative genius of the living Earth. I seek to forge alliances with other humans (and non-human beings) that are willing to engage in symbiotic interactions, I give my attention, hands and focus to recognizing the gifts that are given to me by our more than human kin, reciprocating them and helping those beings to achieve their highest potential.
There is no statist regime that can help me with these endeavors, for they are unique to each individual, and can only be effectively engaged in by empowered and sovereign beings choosing to move and act with their own agency and integrity as a guide (and not what some "government" is telling them).
Much love to you from the south sister, thank you for evoking this line of thought in me and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this matter.
Hi Gavin, yes I figured there was way more to the story of soil than just the horror here of the Dust Bowl. Still, pretty horrifying to see the photographs from that time.
I may seem like a Pollyanna (writing about chipmunks and walks in the woods) but I do stay pretty informed, and realize just how toxic the government is and those entities who control "our" government. Of course, most of what you say is true and while I certainly don't believe in a savior to fix all the problems - that will never happen - I just can't do what so many people seemingly "in the know" intend to do and that is not vote at all. I would rather take a chance that by a miracle my vote will count. It will only be an hour or so out of my day. If there even is an election this year. The astrology predicts madness so who knows what will happen. I'm in observation mode but I have listened to Bobby Kennedy on many podcasts and feel that he has already done massive good for our country and beyond. He is a deeply spiritual man with a huge heart. Whether or not he is elected president, he will most likely continue making a big difference. He has that leader archetype and I believe would surround himself with other good people who could make a difference.
Signed, the eternal Sagittarian optimist. (We are warriors of Truth with a huge dose of optimism. :))
On a first skimming and I’ve got a page of notes! Thank you so much for all this wisdom and inspiration. And thank you for the shout-out too, that’s always fun! 😊
I definitely need to read C. Mann, you’ve referenced him several times and his work sounds very aligned with my interests. I’m truly inspired by your work, and your posts, and your youthful exuberance! It gets very challenging, all of it, and we are not spring chickens. I often need exactly what you are offering—boots on the ground ugly reality but tempered with the optimism and resourcefulness and can-do attitude that I’ve lost a little with each passing decade. Very much motivating and needed, so thank you again.
I’m going to come back when I’ve got a bit more time and share about my Master Gardeners experience, since this book and some of your observations are related. And to do a couple closer readings and add to my notes! 😁
I am so glad you are getting something out of these reviews. Many prefer little snippet posts but if I review something I wanna do it comprehensively and wholeheartedly so I really appreciate the positive feedback.
Thank you for your kind words about my work, I am grateful to walk this path along side valued allies and friends such as yourself.
I get it, I tend over-much toward the snippets too, how can we not these days. But you are right to do it in such a way that you can ‘over-produce’ now while you can, there’s always snippets to harvest from that anytime in future.
Gavin - I ate a "hot one" today - it wasn't even ripe, but it speaks to better times.
The other day I ate one turned out to be a "dud" so it did me good to eat a hot peppa today - and I ain't kidding around - I'm pretty sure if the sun finally gets its act together and all the rain we had lately has been appreciated, but enough is enough. These peppers need some hot afternoon sun to ripen, and when they do - as I said I would - I will barter one or two of them for some of the seeds you have.
If the one I ate today in an indication - and I ate the whole thing up - so it wasn't really "that hot" but its sister peppers and the brothers as well - if they ripen, and this one I ate today is an indication of things to come - then - gracious goodness me - it is gonna be a most hot peppa!
Hey - thanks for taking notice at my place, and hells-bells you got a lot of good info here that you share - and that is good gardening in my book!
Holy Moly this is a lot of reading. In my garden, a "weed" is subjective. If the nearby plant interferes with the plants I'm growing - I characterize it as a "weed" objectively, and then I pull it out if I can. With that said a little growth of other plants in the vicinity is not necessarily harmful and sometimes tis actually helpful.
So, I put forth the concept of what is a weed and what is not tis subjective!
Now - here is an image of a Scotch Bonnet I got growing in my garden, and yes there are other plants nearby!
In a few days, I got a new camera on the way, and I think when it arrives I'm going to be able to take better pictures. I appreciate this article - but holy moly - it is long.
It is one of those things where if I am gonna offer my own experience and perspectives on something I don't wanna do a half assed job of it, so when it comes to a book that gets into nitty gritty science details and farming techniques I have a lot of subject matter that needs to be addressed, elaborated on and highlighted in order to feel that I have done it justice.
I know some people on Substack (and most of the internet in general) prefer little twitter sized character count posts that can be scrolled through in a speedy blur but that is not how I write.
Thanks for sharing about how you use the term "weed". Yes, defining a plant as interfering and/or having the ability to outcompete a nearby plant is a solid definition, you have nailed down some characteristics and it is able to be used as a term that means something across the board. The issue I have is people using the word in a wishy washy way (I often here people using the term "invasive" in a similar way because some "horticulture expert" from academia has now declared that butterfly bushes or mimosa trees are "invasive" on the radio.) I usually tell people that say things like that, that they should stop eating tomatoes, peppers and apples as those things are just about as "invasive" as a butterfly bush or a mimosa tree (which is to say, not really invasive at all, as they do not outcompete native species when self-sowing in my experience).
Another hypothetical example for context: In certain places in New Mexico, Texas, Mexico, or Guatemala where pepper plants (like Chiltepin peppers) grow wild, someone attempting to cultivate fragile ornamental plants from the north or asia might describe the wild self sowing pepper plants showing up in their hydrangea and rose beds as "weeds". I would say that they have their priorities all backwards, but I have heard many silly uses of the word like that.
Thanks for the links, nice work on those peppers plants.
I have a few Bhut Jolokia about to ripen up and I am gonna use one in a sauce tonight.
Thanks for the great information, Gavin. I will continue to read the book review and keep it as a resource for future soil health efforts. I have ordered the book selected for the next reading and look forward to participating more fully in that. I appreciate your work.
So, about Master Gardeners. 😁. I think I’ve shared a bit with you once a while back about my experiences with them, but one story in particular came to mind while reading your book review, so I just thought I’d share. It’s about coercion and requires a bit of backstory.
I was involved with Master Gardeners here in East Texas for a few years when I first moved here. At the time I was new to gardening and to TX, so it was a good fit. I learned quite a bit, like most state-sponsored programs it’s well-organized and has decent training and I’m used to these kinds of rigid structures after so many decades in academia. We did community outreach programs like ‘Victory Gardens’ which I really enjoyed, where we put together raised beds for folks who wanted to learn gardening and gave them basic tools and seeds and education. Of course, the tools and seeds were donated from Lowe’s and the lumber from some other corporation and it was all about ‘relationship building’ which means the fascistic brand of relationships between the state and the corporation, not the community kind where we actually focus on the relationships with the people. And that’s where this little story start.
Master Gardeners in this area is 75% older ladies, all volunteers, with a paid man at the top. When I say older I mean at 50 I was the youngest and most were in their 70s. The meetings were as boring as you can imagine, with all the duties of any well-orchestrated club, budgets and proposals and reading the minutes. Total Yawnville. And then it got worse because the old tolerable man left and an eager young Kafkaesque Administrator took his place. He was rather appalled at the lackadaisical way our operation was being run and immediately started to tighten up the procedures. Starting with, everyone had to have federal background checks. First I balked, then I openly complained, then I started to warn the other ladies, then I quit.
The excuse used for this ridiculous protocol was that since we occasionally work around children, like with the above mentioned Victory Gardens, where sometimes the family’s children would be involved, they must worry about pedophiles. Pedophiles! Of course all the ladies nod in unison, oh, yes, we wouldn’t want any pedophiles to sneak into our ranks. And they hand over their social security numbers to this new power-hungry Admin dude. WTH? Can you not look at yourselves and each other and see there are no pedos among us?! Do you not understand that convicted pedophiles are registered and anyone can get access to that info without a formal federal background check? Do you not want to know what data they are actually gathering about all of us?
And this is what I mean by coercion—it still makes me mad! Mad at the system, yes, but also mad at all those who just keep going along with it, no logic, no questions asked!
Ok, mini-rant over. 😆
Hey Mishelle,
As an older woman and a new Master Gardener, I have to laugh in recognition at your post. I was very angry when I was recently told I had to have a background check in order to participate in events. Then I found out I had already allowed them to do a check when I registered for the class in January 2023. I guess for me back then it did not seem as invasive, but this time I was angry also.
The Master Gardeners here do a lot of really good things. Yes, we are mostly older, and we are considering how to engage younger members. We have a few and they are great. Yes, the group is part of the established university system and its rigidity shows. However, I am slowly trying to move us away from lockstep with the university and hope to save the baby and throw away the bath water, a process to which I refer in a recent essay.
I really appreciate you sharing your story. I don't feel quite so alone.
Glad to hear of your valiant efforts Laura! Would be interested to read your essay if you can provide the link? I wonder how much you might be able to glean from those trying to save our institutions from the inside, something I’ve given up long ago as you can tell. Here is one who really gets what we are up against, perhaps our ‘essays’ can still make a difference. https://open.substack.com/pub/drjacobnordangard/p/the-ultimate-goal-of-the-pact-for?r=apljy&utm_medium=ios
Hey Mishelle,
Thanks for replying. I don't believe we can save our institutions as they are. My writing and work is based on believing we can figure out new, better ways to operate without "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." I no longer fight people's narrow perceptions; I try to model better and keep strengthening my connection to Life aka Something Greater than Ourselves in order to access a greater wisdom from which to make choices. Everything we do to grow healthy food is very important.
Here is the link to my essays; thanks for asking. I would love to have your comments: https://laurapiening.substack.com/.
Hi Gavin! Well, this is a lot to absorb and I will come back to it and also the videos when I have more time to devote to it. I just wanted to mention that over the past few months I've done a deep dive into the Dust Bowl and my mind has been blown. It started out with a work of fiction which led me down a rabbit hole (pun intended because of what happened with giant rabbits) and finally this documentary by Ken Burns https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-dust-bowl/. What happened back then should be a giant cautionary tale. On a good note, so many people like you are talking about SOIL and how important it is.
At the risk of drawing negativity my way, I'm going to go out on a limb and mention that RFK Jr. and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan are both talking nonstop about the importance soil can make in healing the planet. Both of them have spent a lot of time doing podcasts with farmers talking about all the issues around this topic. While two people are certainly not going to make everything hunky dory - it takes all of us - it sure would be nice having someone in government take a leading role in breaking apart toxic structures and helping build healthy ones.
Much love to you, my Nature-loving brother to the north. 💚
Hello Soul Sister from the north! (I think that due to the shape of the US/Canada border we are actually south of you) :)
I really appreciate your input on this.
Ya the "dust bowl" is really a recurring phenomenon in the human story that has corroded the foundations of many seemingly mighty civilizations throughout the last few millennia. We only see the flashy images and stories of the desertification and mass soil erosion event that happened in the states because that is where the focus of our mass media apparatus is pointed, (and they did not have cameras back in Rome etc). We can look to the soil to tell the story however, and even now, if you look in the so called "cradles of civilization" (and by that i mean white washed, anthropocentric, victors write the history books, imperialistic type civilizations) you will invariably find evidence of "dust bowl" events (and worse). The story of monoculture based agriculture is the story of the destruction of the soil (slowly but surely) and the lesser acknowledged resulting destabilization and starvation of human societies and other beings.
I really appreciate you highlighting how important it is to take care of the fabric of all life on earth (which feeds us, creates and stabilizes the rain, re-fills our wells, cleans the water, and recycles death into the potential for new life again) which is Soil.
I am glad you brought up RFK and the role of governments in these aspects of our shared reality.
From the little bit I have seen, I admire RFK's willingness to stand up to big pharma, big ag and the banksters (on occasion). I know some people have freaked out about his position on the Israel situation, but I am honestly not that interested in which side he cheers for (or doesn't myself).
The eternal optimist (and life long conditioned statist) in me wants people like RFK and Pierre Poilievere (here in Canada) to win the election and become leaders that use their "power" to truly represent the will of the people, help heal our relationship with nature and reign in corporate corruption.
The realist in me (and my eternal spirit which has witnessed many political theatric performances unfold over countless centuries on Earth and beyond) however sees the inevitable result when good people with truly noble goals manage to find their way into systemically corrupt and immoral systems.
One, they are either slowly but surely corrupted by the system they sought to change from the inside out, through relentless, corrosive, and strategically focused pressures coming from all angles (corporate lobbyists, bribes, banksters threats, vanity, greed, fear and more) or Two, they are exceptional human beings and they resist all attempts to corrupt them, leading to one of the multi-generational organized crime syndicates (big oil, big ag, big pharma, military industrial complex, big tech or banksters) that run all national governments on Earth calling in a hit on them and making them have an unfortunate accident, sudden medical condition or, if all else fails, just flat out shooting them in the head as they did with RFK's uncle (when he decided to audit the Federal Reserve and call out the corrupt elements behind statist regimes).
So while I theoretically agree with your sentiment that someone like RFK (or Pierre here in Canada) would certainly be an improvement compared to those that currently claim the throne of the involuntary governance structures we live under (which use the threat of violence, kidnapping and murder to take our money and allocate it to what they, or in an ideal situation, a majority of what some other group of people think it should be spent on in our region) I also do not want to use my free will to contribute towards effectively sentencing those people to death. As if they are indeed honorable individuals, as they seem to be, voting them into a system that crushes and silences truth speakers, and attempts to bribe, threaten, blackmail and murders those with unshakable integrity, would be cheering for their inevitable untimely death.
Thus, rather than invest my hopes, faith, and energy in involuntary governance structures (that are inherently corrupt, immoral and headed for imploding) I invest my hope, faith, love and energy in aligning with the regenerative capacity and creative genius of the living Earth. I seek to forge alliances with other humans (and non-human beings) that are willing to engage in symbiotic interactions, I give my attention, hands and focus to recognizing the gifts that are given to me by our more than human kin, reciprocating them and helping those beings to achieve their highest potential.
There is no statist regime that can help me with these endeavors, for they are unique to each individual, and can only be effectively engaged in by empowered and sovereign beings choosing to move and act with their own agency and integrity as a guide (and not what some "government" is telling them).
Much love to you from the south sister, thank you for evoking this line of thought in me and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this matter.
Hi Gavin, yes I figured there was way more to the story of soil than just the horror here of the Dust Bowl. Still, pretty horrifying to see the photographs from that time.
I may seem like a Pollyanna (writing about chipmunks and walks in the woods) but I do stay pretty informed, and realize just how toxic the government is and those entities who control "our" government. Of course, most of what you say is true and while I certainly don't believe in a savior to fix all the problems - that will never happen - I just can't do what so many people seemingly "in the know" intend to do and that is not vote at all. I would rather take a chance that by a miracle my vote will count. It will only be an hour or so out of my day. If there even is an election this year. The astrology predicts madness so who knows what will happen. I'm in observation mode but I have listened to Bobby Kennedy on many podcasts and feel that he has already done massive good for our country and beyond. He is a deeply spiritual man with a huge heart. Whether or not he is elected president, he will most likely continue making a big difference. He has that leader archetype and I believe would surround himself with other good people who could make a difference.
Signed, the eternal Sagittarian optimist. (We are warriors of Truth with a huge dose of optimism. :))
On a first skimming and I’ve got a page of notes! Thank you so much for all this wisdom and inspiration. And thank you for the shout-out too, that’s always fun! 😊
I definitely need to read C. Mann, you’ve referenced him several times and his work sounds very aligned with my interests. I’m truly inspired by your work, and your posts, and your youthful exuberance! It gets very challenging, all of it, and we are not spring chickens. I often need exactly what you are offering—boots on the ground ugly reality but tempered with the optimism and resourcefulness and can-do attitude that I’ve lost a little with each passing decade. Very much motivating and needed, so thank you again.
I’m going to come back when I’ve got a bit more time and share about my Master Gardeners experience, since this book and some of your observations are related. And to do a couple closer readings and add to my notes! 😁
I am so glad you are getting something out of these reviews. Many prefer little snippet posts but if I review something I wanna do it comprehensively and wholeheartedly so I really appreciate the positive feedback.
Thank you for your kind words about my work, I am grateful to walk this path along side valued allies and friends such as yourself.
I get it, I tend over-much toward the snippets too, how can we not these days. But you are right to do it in such a way that you can ‘over-produce’ now while you can, there’s always snippets to harvest from that anytime in future.
It's a dirty book! ha ha
Gavin - I ate a "hot one" today - it wasn't even ripe, but it speaks to better times.
The other day I ate one turned out to be a "dud" so it did me good to eat a hot peppa today - and I ain't kidding around - I'm pretty sure if the sun finally gets its act together and all the rain we had lately has been appreciated, but enough is enough. These peppers need some hot afternoon sun to ripen, and when they do - as I said I would - I will barter one or two of them for some of the seeds you have.
If the one I ate today in an indication - and I ate the whole thing up - so it wasn't really "that hot" but its sister peppers and the brothers as well - if they ripen, and this one I ate today is an indication of things to come - then - gracious goodness me - it is gonna be a most hot peppa!
Hey - thanks for taking notice at my place, and hells-bells you got a lot of good info here that you share - and that is good gardening in my book!
BK
Holy Moly this is a lot of reading. In my garden, a "weed" is subjective. If the nearby plant interferes with the plants I'm growing - I characterize it as a "weed" objectively, and then I pull it out if I can. With that said a little growth of other plants in the vicinity is not necessarily harmful and sometimes tis actually helpful.
So, I put forth the concept of what is a weed and what is not tis subjective!
Now - here is an image of a Scotch Bonnet I got growing in my garden, and yes there are other plants nearby!
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcd038c3f-2f20-4586-ae25-ffb6bc5fa093_4032x3024.jpeg
That image is from this article:
https://buffaloken.substack.com/p/update-sort-of-22-tis-72824
In a few days, I got a new camera on the way, and I think when it arrives I'm going to be able to take better pictures. I appreciate this article - but holy moly - it is long.
It is one of those things where if I am gonna offer my own experience and perspectives on something I don't wanna do a half assed job of it, so when it comes to a book that gets into nitty gritty science details and farming techniques I have a lot of subject matter that needs to be addressed, elaborated on and highlighted in order to feel that I have done it justice.
I know some people on Substack (and most of the internet in general) prefer little twitter sized character count posts that can be scrolled through in a speedy blur but that is not how I write.
Thanks for sharing about how you use the term "weed". Yes, defining a plant as interfering and/or having the ability to outcompete a nearby plant is a solid definition, you have nailed down some characteristics and it is able to be used as a term that means something across the board. The issue I have is people using the word in a wishy washy way (I often here people using the term "invasive" in a similar way because some "horticulture expert" from academia has now declared that butterfly bushes or mimosa trees are "invasive" on the radio.) I usually tell people that say things like that, that they should stop eating tomatoes, peppers and apples as those things are just about as "invasive" as a butterfly bush or a mimosa tree (which is to say, not really invasive at all, as they do not outcompete native species when self-sowing in my experience).
Another hypothetical example for context: In certain places in New Mexico, Texas, Mexico, or Guatemala where pepper plants (like Chiltepin peppers) grow wild, someone attempting to cultivate fragile ornamental plants from the north or asia might describe the wild self sowing pepper plants showing up in their hydrangea and rose beds as "weeds". I would say that they have their priorities all backwards, but I have heard many silly uses of the word like that.
Thanks for the links, nice work on those peppers plants.
I have a few Bhut Jolokia about to ripen up and I am gonna use one in a sauce tonight.
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers