‘VACANT LAND FOR SALE’. That is a big hunk of land on my road that is covered in water. It’s been for sale for at least as long as I have been here. It would seem obvious to me that it isn’t selling because it’s a …swamp. (sorry to state the obvious)
In the spring and summer, it’s a beautiful property covered in trees and has so many wild flowers growing in and around it. Ducks and geese flock to it and I love walking by.
For decades, it’s been rather common knowledge to not buy land that looks like that because you don’t want water in your basement. However, common sense goes out the door once a developer decides that he can drain that land, (to, you guessed it, land beside it) bring in a bunch of questionable fill, build a subdivision on it, sell the houses to people and run off to the next town (like a cat burglar, really).
While I live in the country now, I have lived in a subdivision where I had water in my basement and it was because it was built on a swamp land (a fact they don’t tell you at the time, but you really should research the history of your property, my bad). We become smitten with a brand-new structure and we are elated to be able to pick the colours of the carpet, the tile and the bathroom fixtures so we simply enjoy our enviable consumer-based product until one day we have (sick of my brackets yet?) water in our basement.
I see this same thing happening a lot in society. We syphon everything from the land to suit our immediate white-picket-fence whims, but then suddenly, we are surprised when we see the last mail rhinoceros die and articles pop up about the danger to the honeybee population. Through poaching and pesticides, we are depleting the land for the instant gratification of what we can get in the immediate future.
In the spring and summer, it’s a beautiful property covered in trees and has so many wild flowers growing in and around it. Ducks and geese flock to it and I love walking by.
For decades, it’s been rather common knowledge to not buy land that looks like that because you don’t want water in your basement. However, common sense goes out the door once a developer decides that he can drain that land, (to, you guessed it, land beside it) bring in a bunch of questionable fill, build a subdivision on it, sell the houses to people and run off to the next town (like a cat burglar, really).
While I live in the country now, I have lived in a subdivision where I had water in my basement and it was because it was built on a swamp land (a fact they don’t tell you at the time, but you really should research the history of your property, my bad). We become smitten with a brand-new structure and we are elated to be able to pick the colours of the carpet, the tile and the bathroom fixtures so we simply enjoy our enviable consumer-based product until one day we have (sick of my brackets yet?) water in our basement.
I see this same thing happening a lot in society. We syphon everything from the land to suit our immediate white-picket-fence whims, but then suddenly, we are surprised when we see the last mail rhinoceros die and articles pop up about the danger to the honeybee population. Through poaching and pesticides, we are depleting the land for the instant gratification of what we can get in the immediate future.
I believe we need to go back to the mentality of worrying about that swamp land instead of picking the colours for our bathroom. We need to stop raping the earth to meet our personal goals and we must start inserting ourselves into the bigger picture, always considering what is best for our earth first. We need to have leaders who are conservationists, philanthropists and protectors. In our own little space and corner of the globe, we need to stop using pesticides, we need to be more responsible with our plastics and garbage, and we need to stop being so greedy, poaching off the earth for fulfilment as though there is an endless supply of all the things that we crave. Yet, we will complain about the price of honey, sad when a species goes extinct and we will drive for miles to try and find a beach for our kids to swim in.
This summer, I am going to be completely pesticide-free in my gardens and I am going to plant some flowers which will attract the bees. I just read about ‘Horsemint’ today. No, not to make a horse's breath fresh, it's a flower that honeybees apparently love. It’s just one of the many things I am considering. I understand it brings butterflies and hummingbirds too!
What kinds of things are you doing to show respect to the earth who has never wanted anything from you?
Here is an article to get you started on some flowers you can add this year:
http://fafard.com/terrific-flowers-for-honey-bees/
Here is another worthwhile article on the importance of bees (more than you might think!)
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-bees-are-important-to-our-planet/
I hope you will visit your local nursery and ask about what you can do for the ecosystem!
Happy spring!
Karen
“Every swamp has a silted lining.” ~Brian Spellman
This summer, I am going to be completely pesticide-free in my gardens and I am going to plant some flowers which will attract the bees. I just read about ‘Horsemint’ today. No, not to make a horse's breath fresh, it's a flower that honeybees apparently love. It’s just one of the many things I am considering. I understand it brings butterflies and hummingbirds too!
What kinds of things are you doing to show respect to the earth who has never wanted anything from you?
Here is an article to get you started on some flowers you can add this year:
http://fafard.com/terrific-flowers-for-honey-bees/
Here is another worthwhile article on the importance of bees (more than you might think!)
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-bees-are-important-to-our-planet/
I hope you will visit your local nursery and ask about what you can do for the ecosystem!
Happy spring!
Karen
“Every swamp has a silted lining.” ~Brian Spellman