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Michael Pollan gives a plant’s-eye view

What if human consciousness isn’t the end-all and be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn’s clever strategy game to rule the Earth? Author Michael Pollan asks us to see the world from a plant’s-eye view.

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What to plant in June: 12 easy-to-grow vegetables to plant around Sydney (temperate zone)

It’s beginning of winter in Sydney, but planting in the garden continues. Below is a list of cool-season vegetables that can be planed June. I received this list in a newsletter fromĀ Gardenate and then enhanced it by adding photos and my own tips.

1. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)

cabbage
cabbage by flora.cyclam
Where: grow in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks
Harvest: August – October

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The Missing Link: 15 Multifunctional Plants Missing From Conventional Gardens

When we think of food gardens, we often envision neat rows of tomato and cucumber plants waiting to be harvested. While those plants are definitely rightful citizens of kitchen gardens, growing food plants in isolation from other natural inhabitants is inefficient. When we plant a single kind of crop over large areas (called monoculture), we make the plants and soil vulnerable to pest invasions, drought and depletion. Instead, the goal is to create eco-systems in which each plant fulfils multiple functions and supports the other plants. These functions include attracting beneficial insects, deterring pests, enriching the soils and keeping moisture in.

Many of the plants below are found in the wild and are even considered to be “weeds”! Actually, weeds are really just plants that are “unwanted” in a particular area, rather than placed there by design. The key is to learn the different functions of plants and to create synergistic relationships between them. Whatever needs are fulfilled by the plants themselves, that’s the work that the gardener does not have to do.