As if you or I need to be adding list-serves to our daily load of FB, RSS and bookmarks, there is one list-serve I occasionally check in on that is written by community gardeners who feel the need to network for resources and ideas. Occasionally someone posts a link I follow or a post worth savoring.
During a recent discussion on the merits of using weed block landscaping fabric, someone posted the following nugget, in agreement with most of those who complained about the lack of performance, and downright nuisance of using landscape fabric:
"Amen! Bill is 100% right.
And... non-biodegradable plastic landscape "fabric" will come back to haunt you, as it shreds and keeps re-emerging in ugly clumps. I speak from experience - never again!
We all need to make sustainable thinking automatic. Does your community garden _really_ need to purchase that petroleum-based (or GMO soy based) product? If not, don't buy it! Every dollar you don't spend is another dollar for your garden's budget. Think of creative frugality (especially with a green consciousness) as your own "sustainability grant". with no strings attached. Cool, huh?
It also helps bridge people working for social justice with those working for environmental sustainability. We need both. Without justice, sustainability isn't sustainable.
(I have withheld the writer's name)
Charlotte, NC
www.urbanministrycenter.org
