My Home is a Living Thing
My home consumes and produces. It is all connected and benefits me and all engaging with it.
Home, Defined
My home is
the house itself (quite small),
the land around it (not even .25 acres),
and all living things in and on it, including me.
Parts of the Home
Worms in the basement(1) feed on kitchen scraps and paper. They produce compost tea and compost that feeds plants indoors and out.
Plants in the yard feed me, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, perhaps a groundhog if he’s around again this year, and many others. On this small patch of land are:
- dandelions, delicious in salad,
- potatoes,
- beets quickly maturing for their roots and leaves,
- eggplant,
- peas already sweet and delicious,
- cauliflower,
- more kale than I had expected by far,
- zucchini and squash,
- beans snaking up wire trellises,
- cucumbers,
- a couple dozen tomato plants,
- pepper plants that are mostly struggling,
- garlic,
- asparagus that will be ready to eat next year,
- several types of mint, lovely for tea,
- basil,
- and oregano.
I am no farmer, but gardening in my spare time connects me with helpful microbes.(2)
The literal fruits (and vegetables) of my labor help to feed me and my family while sharing with neighbors, too. I cannot produce everything I need, so I still need to buy. But, producing what I can means that I can consume less elsewhere, spend less money, generate less pollution, harm the world less, and hopefully make this land more healthy. I am one of its temporary stewards.
Crops I bring in from the yard I eat, and scraps go back to worms in the basement. Their production goes back into the yard.
Several spaces set aside just for wildflowers in the yard encourage pollinators like bees. They pollinate my crops, and I leave them bee. Using no pesticides means that this is a safe zone for all birds, bees, and living things like me.
Bird seed in a feeder by the dining room window yes, feeds the birds, but also gives me joy to watch while I work. I feel better and stronger to be connected to nature.(3)
A bat house has yet to be home to an actual bat, but I am hopeful that it will bring in a bat who will help keep insects in check.
Sunshine creates energy through panels on the roof. That energy powers things in the house, and any excess goes into the power grid for others to use. Sunshine seems to power me while I work outside sometimes.
Indoor plants thrive and grow. While the oxygen they produce may be minor in the grand scheme of things, their presence makes me feel happier.(4)
Intertwined with Nature, Not Separated
I feel more happily connected to the natural world by intentionally engaging with it, not closing my home, land, or myself off it. I think the whole home — the house itself, me, my family, dogs, the land, and all of the creatures interacting with it — are healthier and better off through the intentional, increased engagements. Feeding the soil with plants native to this area, for example, makes the very ground healthier while encouraging wildlife.
No person can live in a glass room cut off from everything else. No home is completely separated from nature, and the idea of being able to be completely separate from nature is an illusion. There is an ebb and flow, a give and take, despite what walls we build. I engage intentionally in the give and take with nature, giving when and as I can, and taking in turn.
Gardening is a meditation for me, an almost religious reflection on our interconnectedness. Recognizing the house as not fully separated from the yard means that even what I do indoors can be part of gardening and affects even the land outside. I care for the house, which helps cares for the land, which cares for the house back.
I work the land in the ways that I can, and this is enough. May you find joy, peace, and connection.
References
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicompost
(3) http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160420-how-nature-is-good-for-our-health-and-happiness
(4) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/people-places-and-things/201802/benefits-the-indoor-plant
