Written on 4/30/2008 by Shelly DeVous.
Listen to Al Gore and you believe our earth in is a perilous position and we all must work to reduce our carbon footprint. But is there anything one person can do to really have an effect on climate conditions?
Michael Pollen’s recent New York Times article asks, “
Why bother?” Pollen doesn’t just pose the question, he also provides an answer; plant a garden:
“The idea is to find one thing to do in your life that doesn’t involve spending or voting, that may or may not virally rock the world but is real and particular (as well as symbolic) and that, come what may, will offer its own rewards.”
It’s an admirable suggestion and a timely one, but his answer assumes two prerequisites:
- A commitment to ecology
- An ability to garden
Gardening does not require a commitment to ecology. However, when viewed as an answer to declining climate conditions, a heightened commitment to saving the earth may provide the necessary motivation to fulfill the second requirement; how to garden.
Pollen suggests gardening fulfills both prerequisites:
“But there are sweeter reasons to plant that garden, to bother. At least in this one corner of your yard and life, you will have begun to heal the split between what you think and what you do, to commingle your identities as consumer and producer and citizen.”
We don’t have to march in “Save The Earth” rallies, or install sun panels on our roof to show we are committed to the environment. Gardening will coalesce our own thoughts and actions; what we believe and what we do will be in harmony.
Pollen suggests other benefits as well:
- Grow the proverbial “free lunch.” (Cheap food)
- CO2-free endeavor
- Great exercise
- Engages mind and body
- Reason to be outdoors, away from the computer (as soon as you finish reading this)
- Reengage with neighbors (if only to borrow tools!)
Reap fresh air and sunlight, exercise my mind and body, save the earth and have free food? OK, I’m a gardener. Now what? Gardening is a worthy pursuit, but to progress from seedling to harvest requires knowledge. If you have never grown a vegetable garden, you will have to learn how.
My father-in-law, an avid and prolific gardener, always advised planting vegetables on Mother’s Day. By the first week of May, serious concern of frost has passed, the earth is warm, daylight growing, and nights still relatively cool; Mother’s Day is the ideal time to begin planting.
Mother’s Day is fast approaching. Now is the time to seriously consider Pollen’s suggestion. Are you ready to start planting and do your part to save the earth?
Vegetable gardening is not difficult, but it does require knowledge. Planning will increase the rewards of harvest. The internet provides a wealth of information on vegetable gardening. Begin with these:
Vegetable gardening is its own reward, if nothing more than you gain the satisfaction of growing your own food. Pollen offers one more reason to pursue this worthwhile effort and this may be the best reason:
“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.”
That’s a good reason to bother.
-Michele
译文:
省钱又环保：种个菜园子
听了阿尔·戈尔的话，我们相信我们的地球正处在一种危险的境地，我们必须行动起来以减少我们的碳足迹。但是一个人所做的事真的能对气候环境产生影响吗？
迈克尔·波伦最近在纽约时报上的文章问道“为什么要麻烦呢？”波伦并非仅仅提出了这个问题，他还给出了答案：种一个菜园子：
“办法是在你的生活中找一件事，既不要大的开销也无需投票决定，它也许会也许不会使世界改变，但确是真实独特的（同时也是象征性的），而且无论发生什么事都会得到回报。”
这是一个令人钦佩的好建议，也是一个适时的建议。但是他的建议假定了两个先决条件：
对生态学的投入奉献和对园林技术的掌握。
园艺并不要求对生态学的投入。然而，当它被看作是日益恶化的气候环境的解决方法时，这种拯救地球的强烈的奉献精神就会为实现第二个要求-如何造园-提供动力。
波伦表示园艺能够同时满足这两个先决条件：
“但是还有更好的理由去不厌其烦种植菜园子。至少在你院子的这个角落里，在你生活的这个角落里，你将开始缝合思想与行为的裂痕，使你集消费者、生产者和公民的身份于一身。”
我们没必要加入到“拯救地球”的游行中，或是在我们的屋顶上装上太阳能电池板以表明我们致力于环保事业。园艺会使我们的思想与行为一致起来；我们所信仰的与我们所做的将和谐无间。
波伦还提到了其他的好处：
种植众所周知的“免费的午餐”。（便宜的食品）
二氧化碳零排放的活动
很好的锻炼
身心投入
户外活动的理由，远离电脑（直到你读完这个）
重新和邻居接触（只要你借工具！）
获得新鲜的空气和阳光，锻炼身心，环保并有了免费的食物？
好吧，我就是一名园丁。现在感觉怎么样？
园艺是一项有价值的追求，但是从播种忙到收获还需要一些学问。如果你从未种过菜园子，你得从现在开始学习了。
我的岳父，一个热心且高产的园艺家，总是建议在母亲节这一天种些蔬菜。到五月的第一个星期，霜冻的烦恼已经过去了，土壤变得温暖，白昼慢慢变长，夜晚仍相对凉爽；母亲节是一个开始种菜的理想时间。
种菜并不难，但它需要一些学问。计划将增加收获的回报。因特网提供了大量种菜的信息。这样开始：
园艺入门：现在开始为夏日的成功计划
说明指南：如何种植番茄
后院园丁网：怎样种植蔬菜
事情怎样起作用：怎样种植蔬菜
假如你仅仅得到了自己生产食物的满足感，那么种植蔬菜本身就是一种回报。波伦还给出了另一个继续这项值得出力的活动的理由，这可能就是最好的理由：
“种植菜园子教给我们最简单最好的道理就是我们与地球的关系不能是零和的，只要太阳仍然闪耀，人们依然能够计划和种植，思考和行动，只要我们费心去尝试，我们就能找到方法养活我们自己而不伤害我们的地球。”
这就是一个不厌其烦的好理由。
--米歇尔