Thank you, Sara. I've definitely been talking about how humans are part of nature, even when we unbalance it and destroy it, and I've heard the same from a teacher at Tracking and Survival school this week, and now from you. I'm not sure if it's Baader-Meinhof or just a rising theme in the zeitgeist, but I'm sharing it (and this post) today.
I love it when that happens - I always think of it like the universe is shaking me to get my attention.
I want to write about this idea that we’re separate from nature as the source of so many of our societal ills, but I haven’t gotten the energy for all of the research quite yet.
Loved this so much and makes me think of Mary Oliver when she says “attention is the beginning of devotion.” In this attention economy, there’s nothing so urgent as knowing how to direct our attention, and especially directing it in ways that helps us remember our belonging to/with the living world around us. Because that world is always paying attention to us: birds announce our arrival in the forest with their birdsong, roley poleys who scurry when we kick over a leaf, flowers who open themselves to us when we bend over to smell them. I think one of the solutions to the loneliness epidemic is through Nature✨
Also, I got a good laugh out of dandelion pulling as a discipline practice lol gonna remember that one
Hey Mary (sorry for delay, we were on vacation) - Urgh about your local spot not having a native section.
If you google your state and "native plants for sale," you'll probably come up with a listing. For example, in Indiana, we have this great nonprofit called Indiana Native Plant Society that has a listing of retailers and other options (https://indiananativeplants.org/landscaping/where-to-buy/). Not to be rude to my home state, but I'm guessing that if Indiana has one, most states do :)
Also, I found a local grower at my farmers market that always has the coolest stuff, but I've probably bought most of our native collection at the annual master gardener sale - I've found that the master gardeners usually really "get it" when it comes to natives.
But what I think I loved best about that book was how outsized of an impact trees make, so even if you just plant one oak on your property, you're probably doing a ton more good than a whole host of native perennials, for example.
Sara, I loved this. I can’t wait to check out that list. I also love that it is a podcast. I wrote something a few weeks ago that I think you might like. https://pocketfulofprose.substack.com/p/may-it-break-your-heart
It also has audio. I’m a few chapters into Tallamy’s book, and I love it. Two friend also recommended Nancy Lawson’s books.
Love how we’re pulling on such similar threads, Mary. Excited to dig into your backlog!
Thank you, Sara. I've definitely been talking about how humans are part of nature, even when we unbalance it and destroy it, and I've heard the same from a teacher at Tracking and Survival school this week, and now from you. I'm not sure if it's Baader-Meinhof or just a rising theme in the zeitgeist, but I'm sharing it (and this post) today.
I love it when that happens - I always think of it like the universe is shaking me to get my attention.
I want to write about this idea that we’re separate from nature as the source of so many of our societal ills, but I haven’t gotten the energy for all of the research quite yet.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Thomas!
Loved this so much and makes me think of Mary Oliver when she says “attention is the beginning of devotion.” In this attention economy, there’s nothing so urgent as knowing how to direct our attention, and especially directing it in ways that helps us remember our belonging to/with the living world around us. Because that world is always paying attention to us: birds announce our arrival in the forest with their birdsong, roley poleys who scurry when we kick over a leaf, flowers who open themselves to us when we bend over to smell them. I think one of the solutions to the loneliness epidemic is through Nature✨
Also, I got a good laugh out of dandelion pulling as a discipline practice lol gonna remember that one
I included a link to your post at the bottom of my post this week. Thanks Sara and cheers!
And that is how I arrived here today!
I love the mycelial connections that pop up when we share each other's stuff. Thanks for visiting, Julia!
Thanks so much for sharing, Mary. Loved connecting to your pocketful this afternoon :)
So I used the list- thank you. I took it to one of my fav garden stores. I was surprised they had so few of the plants and not a Native section.
Hey Mary (sorry for delay, we were on vacation) - Urgh about your local spot not having a native section.
If you google your state and "native plants for sale," you'll probably come up with a listing. For example, in Indiana, we have this great nonprofit called Indiana Native Plant Society that has a listing of retailers and other options (https://indiananativeplants.org/landscaping/where-to-buy/). Not to be rude to my home state, but I'm guessing that if Indiana has one, most states do :)
Also, I found a local grower at my farmers market that always has the coolest stuff, but I've probably bought most of our native collection at the annual master gardener sale - I've found that the master gardeners usually really "get it" when it comes to natives.
But what I think I loved best about that book was how outsized of an impact trees make, so even if you just plant one oak on your property, you're probably doing a ton more good than a whole host of native perennials, for example.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for such a kind comment, Barbara...you made my day!
I also told my kids that you got 25 cents a bucket for your dandelions, and they said they’d rather wait to get in trouble 😂