This link comes from one of my favorite garden blogs: GardenRant. I am in such awe of what the gals at GardenRant produce I almost didn't share it for fear of looking like a rank amateur against their impressive background. But they are just too awesome to hoard. In particular, I love their honest, quick-and-dirty approach to gardening.This post, by a guest 'ranter', addresses Garden Snobbery from the interesting point of view of a marijuana grower who couldn't get his book published because he 'wasn't a REAL gardener'. Um, untrue. There are many illegal applications of horticulture, and growing dope is just one of them (and hardly the most profitable: ever bought a geranium plant without a tag in it? chances it was illegally propagated!)
This paragraph is what really hit home:
"In the gardening world, many times there is an elitism that is sort of inherent in the plants and kind of garden a gardener grows. Those that don’t know the latin names of every plant turn their nose up at those that do. Those that like fancy flower gardens with a feng shui design, look down at those who garden in more of a disorderly kung fu design. Vegetable gardeners think their gardens are better than flower gardeners. Container gardeners choose the beauty and art of the container over growing in soil. And vice versa in many of those examples."
'...disorderly kung fu design' ... snort... I never knew there was a term for my garden style...
You don't have to have an opinion about marijuana cultivation to get the point here: people like to sound like know-it-alls and gardeners are no exception. In fact, outside of the world of wine snobs, gardeners are the biggest bunch of horn-tooters I know. How can we possible encourage others to join in the garden-game if we can't answer a question without being preachy and self-righteous? Quick story: I dropped out of the local organic gardening club the same night I joined because one of the horn-tooter types lectured me for a half hour on "what was WRONG WITH ME because I wasn't a pacifist and didn't I know fire ants were part of the freakin' ecosystem (duh)", all because I had the audacity to ask about a good organic control for the vicious little devils.Moral of the story: if we want to actively help Guard'n the Planet, and bring others into the fold, drop the big words and attachments to what "REAL GARDENING" means.
To read the full rant, click on this link to GardenRant. And try not to love it too much:)
