Restorative Weeding and An Instant Herb Garden

 Dawn rainbow over Mt Somers

I am back from retreat, feeling rested and refreshed from having so much quiet time, and time alone in the beech forest. I was pleased to see that the woody weeds which were hacked back in February this year had not made as much of a comeback as I had feared. However it was dismaying to discover that cut cotoneaster branches which are only 2-3 centimetres in diameter can keep growing green leaves on their side branches for months! They sprout back from their cut stumps like crazy as well, as do sycamore, rowan and hawthorn. Blackberry is also very difficult to discourage. Nevertheless, it is worth chopping back all these plants before they can fruit for the year, and create another generation of weeds. As the old gardening adage goes, 'One year's seeding is ten years weeding.'

My 'guerilla' herb garden at the edge of the campsite.

On the plus side, I planted a tiny herb garden in a spot where I hope it will get enough rain and sun, and miss out on being sprayed and mown over. It is an experiment I could afford to make, since the plants cost me nothing.
I raised them all by division (pizza thyme, chives, oregano, lemon balm, marjoram) or from seed (sage, parsley). The fertiliser and mulch were free, and local. For the former I used sheep droppings gathered from the nearby paddock and LOF,* and for the latter I used cut grass.

Will anyone notice the garden and water it? Will the herbs be picked? Will they survive the summer without any care? Will they (or their descendents) be there for me to use next time I am at the campsite and on cooking duty? How much control over life in all its forms does one really have - or need to have - anyway? I prefer the 'give it away and see what comes back' approach. On the whole I have found that nature in particular, and even human beings in general, are much more generous than the ruling economic and political orthodoxy would have us believe.



*LOF = liquid organic fertiliser. We all make around 1.5 litres of it a day in our bladders, and it contains nitrogen and potassium, two of the most important elements for plant growth. Why toss it down the toilet to cause a waste disposal problem somewhere else, when one has a garden in need of it?  Pee in a 10 litre bucket (cover with a lid between contributions), dilute a day's production by topping up the bucket with water, and go and give some plants the elixir of life.