diversity of nature
When you plant do you plant only those things that benefit you, or do you plant others as well?
As I start planting in the spring, I want to plant many things. I don’t want to just focus on plants that will give me food, I want to add in plants, trees, and shrubs that are beautiful and have other functions as well. The functions of nature are easier to see with some varieties than others but regardless of this, all of nature has a purpose.
If I look at nature there is such a wonderful array of trees and plants, none of them have the same functions, they all look different in their own way, and yet they all have purpose, they all give nature its beauty. Only those who are not looking see trees the same, who see flowers the same, etc. But to people who are aware of it and really look at nature, they see that on those beautiful snowy days, each snowflake is distinct, none are the same.
How boring would nature be if everything was the same? Our needs would not be met with one type of tree or one type of plant, we would shrivel and die because our lives need and thrive off of diversity.
And yet we have the audacity to degrade the diversity of human beings, to act as if the differences in each other makes us more or less than another. It’s sad that people don’t want to see the beauty in diversity, many just want to stick with their own kind instead of flourishing among the different expressions of people.
Either way, I’m looking forward to researching the kinds of plants and trees I can add-on my property to make my little ecosystem strong.
Mimic Nature 
I’ve been planting our 10 acres as fast as I can (not as fast as I’d like) for 2 years now. Even if I plant only those things I think are useful, I have huge diversity, whether they are herbs and flowers like calendula, borage, comfrey, phacelia, chamomile, feverfew, thyme, artichoke, rosemary, lavender, lupins etc, they all have their “uses” to me but already many of them are endemic, seeding themselves across an increasingly colourful landscape. The same applies to trees like tagasaste and fig or shrubs like currants, all reproducing the,selves (often with some help from me) and filling our world with colour and variety. Lets not forget the NZ natives that we transplant into new places as they spring up, flaxes in windbreaks an along edges, near ponds etc, cabbage trees, P Eugenioides and on and on; every one with a “purpose”.
If I’m lucky, I might live long enough to finish with the useful ones and start on the beautiful for their own sake.
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Sounds like you have a nice diversity going on! I’m just starting this year so I am starting with the different plants that will give me food, but I do have a few that I got on clearance last year that don’t give food. Look for clearance items and you can start on the beautiful ones now 🙂 Just my thoughts though… I hope my place is as good as yours in 2 years, you are doing great at giving back to the land.
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