Nexus - 0206 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

SHWPLe an) J DE Wer ae UL an) PO ic gardner grows plants in harmony with Nature by fertilising the soil with natural products. This is in stark contrast to the harmful practice of directly stimulating plants with factory produced chem- icals. "For most of us life is busy, busy, busy. The daily rush as a commuter is a trial of nerves, the pace and problems of work a daily pressure, the intricacies of family life consume any spare time we get. We have become so busy, so pressured, so very complexed in the overall haste of life, we have forgotten that simple is powerful. This book is a reminder." For almost a year, in my capacity as an organic gardner, I was a regular guest on radio 7LA, a talk show hosted by Jane Stark on the subject of organic gardening. We had a lot of fun, sparking a tremendous local response. Often, I touched on the controversial issue of talking to plants. This is something in which I believe; after all, a splendid tree is just as likely to speak in humanese as a cat or dog. T - - al - - £21 I never ceased to be surprised at the number of people who, feel- ing safe in their anonymity, phoned to tell us of their personal experiences in this area. Their techniques were fascinatingly dif- ferent and sometimes hilarious. While I have no proof that any of the accounts were true, I believed them. The speakers had a certain righ of crediblity, and my own experiences provided ample vali- dation. Is it strange that with one exception, all of the incidents described involved women, and were volunteered by women? As an international seminar leader and speaker, I have observed that women definitely outnumber men when it comes to having an open mind. Generally speaking, they are more receptive, more aware, and far more intuitive, and they trust their intuition. Sorry guys.! One of our callers described a beautiful creeping miller's dust that grew alongside the path to her front door. Unfortunately, in its enthusiasm, the plant grew over the path as well, invading it from both sides, thus gradually reducing the safe walking area. Because the lady and her husband were rather elderly, this made the path dangerous for them. She cut it away regularly, a tough job. One afternoon, her back aching, she decided enough was enough. "Okay you nuisance plant," she said, "that's it. I've had enough. If you grow over my path anymore, much as I love you, I'll dig out every last piece of you and take you to the rubbish dump." That was three years ago, she told us, and the plant never again grew over that path. It did become a bit of a pest growing onto the lawn, but, as she said, "The lawn mover easily deals with that." Another caller told us about a vigorous ivy with splendid mot- tled leaves that grew in a large container in her bathroom. Her great indulgence each day was to soak in the bath for half an hour as soon as the kids had gone to school. "I'm ready to face the day then," she told us. "While I'm lying in the bath, I talk to the ivy and tell it how beautiful it looks, and how much I love it." "One day, I decided to see if I could persuade the ivy to creep its I realise it is remotely possible that you might have difficulty believing that the spirit of Nature can communicate with us. Let me assure you that it can, and does. When Treenie and I lived in Tasmania, I became well known as an organic gardner. An organ- NEXUS - 41 ANeCDOT#S rOn A COMPLES WORLD by Michael J. Roads THE LADIES HAVE IT. Extracted from Michael J. Roads’ most recent book, Simple is Powerful. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992 - YEAR BOOK