Me and my friend Joanne went to the bug man Ruud Kleinpaaste talk at Palmers Planet last night.
Wow, I never knew all that about bugs. It was very educational.
Even though I did fall asleep half way through (powerpoint presentations do tend to do that to me). He was going round the country and advocated outdoor classrooms to teach children the importance of learning from nature.
They can learn all sorts of things, and also..can watch bugs battle each other life or death. Who wins in Daddy long-legs vs White tail spider? How do bugs go toilet? Do slaters have maternity wear? How come ants never crash into each other on their trails? What gets rid of scale bugs? Can't find any bugs? Maybe they are using camouflage. Solar panels? bah, leaves do a much better job. Pump carbon dioxide into a coral reef and they'll love you forever. Biomimicry is the way of the future.
Also, without bees, we might die and our food won't be as tasty.
And..mosquitos do have their uses. In Alaska.
So gardeners do have a mission to teach children all the wonders of God's creation. Did you know that some clueless city people wrap their bananas in cellophane just because they don't think their skins can do a better job? And peeled red onions? What's with that?
Do we really want to live in the future and have it look like 'Bladerunner'? As for global warming. Well. We know how the world is going to end, but we don't have to go down with it.
Anyway I really enjoyed it and best of all it was free.
I snuck some hollyhocks in yesterday and also scattered a packet of cosmos (white). And gave my other friend a grand tour of my garden. She really liked the white alyssum, also known as sweet alice. The chickens somehow escaped until we banished them again from the front yard. I need to fix that fence, I think they sneak in through a gap.
My sunflowers are blooming. I don't know why, but the ants really like them? I may need to figure out an ant trap. Ruud said to use 'wet and forget' and put it into a little container so it doesn't evaporate.
