Sustainable Living for Gardeners

Jan at Thanks for 2 Day has invited garden bloggers to participate in here Garden Bloggers Sustainable Living project in honor of Earth Day (April 22).

I actually did a post for Blog Action Day called Earth Friendly Gardening Practices, so I thought I'd cast my net a little wider with my Earth Day post and consider some ideas for reducing your garden's (and your) carbon footprint. According to Wikipedia, the "carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event or product". And the more emissions, the more climate change. "Mother Earth is running a fever," a friend of mine said. Actually, it seems more like malaria, with alternating fever and chills, but I'm quite sure she'd be happier if we could modify our collective behavior so she could heal.

1. Grow some edibles. Many garden bloggers are working on reducing their food carbon footprint by growing fruit and vegetables (and eating them). Hats of too you, dear friends! If I didn't live in a summer dry climate I might have my own vegetable bed. As it is, I prefer to feed the wildlife with my low-water garden and grow some fruit. And I try to eat low on the food chain. Here's a thoughtful post on how much eating vegetarian can reduce your carbon footprint.

And here some peaches from my own garden.

2. Shun annuals or propagate. Yes, annuals look so pretty and tempting in the nursery. And often they are cheap. Industrial and government agency gardens often have an ever-changing collection of cheap impatients. In for 2 months, then out in the trash. Repeat. But consider that each plant has to be raised, with fertilizer, in a pot (usually not reusable) and trucked first to the nursery and then trucked to the sight. Two months later, trucked to the landfill or, if you're lucky, the local composting site.

Regrettably, many gardeners are tempted as well. They could have perennials. They could have beautiful bulbs, miraculously reborn each year (like this Triteleia laxa).

Another alternative is propagation. Country Mouse is a passionate and competent propagator. Even with some failures and disappointments, she persevered and has propagated grasses, perennials, and annuals from seed she collected on her own property. I much admire her diligence and I'm excited about her successes, such as the river of grass project she wrote about recently.

So, next time you're tempted by an annual at the nursery, consider your options. Buy it if you expect to use the seeds to have your own home grown plants next year, otherwise, move on.

3. Consider your own transportation. I realize transportation is only tangentially related to gardening. But not one but two garden bloggers have recently sang praise to their SUV and pickup truck in a post.

Fair enough, that didn't trouble me. Different folks, different tastes. What did trouble me were the 40+ comments on one of those blogs. "This truck is so sexy! Your truck is so macho! I love my own truck and they'll have to pull it from my clawing hands when I'm on my deathbed. When I was a little girl, all I wanted when I grew up was a truck like that." That kind of thing.

I found that very upsetting. I had just assumed that as gardeners, we all share a concern for the environment. But it appears I might have been mistaken.

So let me just say what I think:

• Trucks are fine for hauling big things. Mr. W. Rat has a truck, which he uses, for example, when he builds a greenhouse for Ms. Country Mouse. He does not commute to work in his truck. (We sometimes gratefully borrow the truck.)
• Trucks are stupid for driving around. 
• Trucks are not sexy. Actually, I don't think cars are sexy. I think a guy/gal just back from a bike ride, flushed and a with a happy grin, looks sexy. 
• When I was a little girl in Germany, many middle-aged and older women rode their bikes everywhere. They went shopping, rode to their garden plots to pick up vegetables, or rode to the preschool to pick up their grandkids. I always wanted to be like them, strong and self-sufficient, always ready with a smile, and often with a piece of fruit or a fresh carrot. Really there, not hidden behind a few tons of steel. 

In the interest of full disclosure, here's what I do.

• I ride my bike to work unless it's raining or I have other commitments, or I'm sick.  
• I ride my bike on the weekend, for errands and for fun. You'd be surprised what you can fit into the panniers of a good bike.
• We are a two-Prius family. One of the Prius' is a plug-in hybrid, and Mr. Mouse is just doing a series on electric cars on his Netzerolife blog. I don't ride my bike everywhere, but I try to combine errands, and ask myself whether I could ride my bike with each trip I take.  

 Want to join me? I'm sure we'll see more interesting gardens if we're not sitting up in a truck, but low in a small car. We'll smell the salvias and hear the birds if we ride our bikes. And we can make a big difference to our carbon footprint and help Mother Earth.