Longer Step: Ideas for Justice and Sustainability

  A suburb in The Netherlands requires that every homeowner grow food on at least half of their property! There are so many reasons why this is brilliant: 1. While a lawn has good uses--cut grass is the best plant for resisting heavy foot traffic, and it's pleasant to sit on. But lawn is a monoculture. Not very good for the environment, especially when we pour gallons of synthetic chemicals into it, which kill beneficial soil organisms. Therefore, anything that replaces some lawn with other plants is good. 2. You save money when you grow your own food. Yes, there are $40 tomatoes, but those gardeners are doing it wrong ;) That $20 semi-dwarf apple tree that you planted with $7 of chicken manure and $5 worth of mulch will turn into $100s of dollars of good fruit. That $3 6-pack of kale will feed you greens, which would cost maybe $50 in the store, for an entire year. 3. You get fresher, riper produce if you grow it yourself. 4. Your food supply is more sustainable if there is a mas...

  Re: Sudden, dramatic growth in worldwide gov't support for modern (hybrid) winegrapes!   Friends, if you thought that modern grapes ("hybrids") play just a minor role, and are not relevant to your life or to this planet's future, then you need to think again. I have never seen such an outpouring, in just the past few months, of major news from wine regions all around the world, dropping their (stupid) prohibitions against modern grapes, and suddenly embracing them as their regions' salvation for the future. (I want to say "duh," but I need to be professional.) I include many of the latest news stories about this, below. What's the impetus for this? In many regions of the world, it is becoming impossible to grow traditional European winegrapes consistently successfully, due to climate change (higher high temps; unexpected late Spring and early Fall severe cold snaps; worsening droughts; early arrival of Fall, etc.). Sometimes the trigger is the loss...

  Most of us know that embracing diversity in human-to-human relationships is vital, and leads to better results in terms of overall justice, fairness, and group achievement. But diversity in many other areas is also important. Such as, diversity in your yard! Today I'm thinking about my neighbor's support of "No Mow May," where the idea is to allow flowers in what used to be your grassy lawn, in order to help important insects and other small animals. Golf course-style lawns are useless monocrops which hurt the planet. If you can't/won't just "not mow" (and I can't do that, due to HOA rules), then why not set your mower deck much higher, which will allow low flowers like clover, chamomile, and dandelions to flourish? And while you're at it, maybe stop wasting money on inorganic fertiizers and pesticides (which are poisonous killers)? Your planet will thank you. We should all be striving for diversity in our yards. Have a happy, diverse day! ...