A Special Day

Hope you’ll celebrate these three events today, in whatever big or small ways you have capacity to do.

Pollinator Week

As I began Create Ecology and this blog, I emphasized that there is value in doing even one basic thing that will support the ecosystem where you live.

Several years ago, I was visiting a family member in another state. His box of Honey Nut Cheerios included a seed packet of white and magenta Cosmos. I brought them home with me and have grown them – collecting the seed each Fall – every year since.

---

“Kill two birds with one stone,” brings dissonance to me as a metaphor, and I have tried to replace it. This morning, I believe I landed on my best substitution: “Feed two bees with one flower.” It’s exactly what happened in less than a minute as I observed pollinators on this Cosmos bloom this morning.

Breakfast Cereal -> Seeds -> Growing -> Blooming -> Feeding

Summer Solstice

Maybe I should put some sunshine-hued flowers in this gallery for the Longest Day of Light in the Northern Hemisphere, but these Shirley Gray Poppies have been knocking me out this week with their uber-gorgeous blooms. I can’t not share these with you. They thrive in the sun, so I think they are just fine as heralds of Summer even though they’re “a mood” 🙂

Pee the Change

I bet you support Peace on Earth. Today you can also support Pee on Earth Day!

“Peecycling” is just a new label on a centuries-old practice all over the world of using human urine to fertilize crops and grow things. Mainstream (no pun intended) knowledge of the benefits has been flooding media this year. Here are two recent articles from New York Times and USA Today.

There’s really no reason to be squeamish about your own urine. (Ever thought about all the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks peeing everywhere? Why should the urine you are most familiar with be any weirder or ‘gross’??) It’s quite ridiculous how much water we use to flush away all the nutrients in our “waste” streams.

So, pee the change you want to see in the world 🙂 Share your nitrogen and trace minerals with a grateful tree (fruit trees always show their appreciation) or plant (pale and weak no more!). Some tips:

• Collect urine in a clean jar.
• Dilute to at least 50/50 with water. (If doing this one time, that ratio will be fine. If making a regular practice of sharing your liquid gold with plants, diluting to 10% strength will reduce salt build-up in the surrounding soil.)
• Always POUR into the soil/ground; do not sprinkle or spray.
• Rinse the jar outside and pour that water on a plant too.
• Wash your hands when you’re done.

Reviewing the To-Do List:

Love the pollinators; Feed the plants; Enjoy the light.

And always,

Keep growing!