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Dirty Secret - I hate Gardening

2018-06-03

"What?!? You don't enjoy digging in the dirt? It's such a satisfying, healthy and noble pursuit! Your blog is about plants - what kind of confused hypocrite are you?"

Good point. But to tell the truth, I would much rather be hanging out with my laptop than digging in the dirt. In my probably warped mind, gardening feels artificial. It's a way of coercing nature into growing what we want where we want it.

It's also too much work.

Houseplants bother me, too. There is nothing sadder that a potted plant in a house. Don't plants belong outside with other plants? Not crammed into a pot and dependent on me to remember when and how much to water. I don't usually get that right and they wilt.

That's why I like foraging. You can leave nature alone and just accept what happens to be around. If there is a patch of thistle you can make juice. When lambs quarters takes over, there's plenty of salad.

Nature knows far more than I ever will about tending to plants - so I decorate my house with plastic imitations and have lunch on the lawn.