Blog of The Organic Gardener

Christmas Post an Organic View

Thank you Eric & Beryl for the lovely flowers

Thank you John; this year the Poinsettia looks even move vivid & the flowers inside the red bracts larger & more promising.

Organic gardeners are always rigorous about timing. It's like we have a special biological clock that governs when to do things. That's when you wake up one morning in spring and know you have to sow some seeds and organic gardening gets underway.

Yet sending Christmas cards is also one of those things that happens to gardeners. Christmas preparations are like a flower coming into bloom and then moving on to make seeds. Happily I've completed and posted my Christmas cards for 2005. In case you don't receive one from me, may I wish you all a happy Christmas.

But I also detect that some of you organic gardeners may not send Christmas cards at all. Why ? Because it's too commercial and we're not going to be taken in by all that gloss. Moreover, when we do send cards we look for cards printed on recycled paper. I wonder how many acres of forests are culled for Christmas cards?

While I understand the 'Green' message very well, I'm a little concerned that any dictates insisting people send recycled Christmas cards or emails instead, could be counter productive in gaining public support for the proper care of our environment. I believe persuasion and demonstration of the cause and cure of environmental problems is necessary. But then, trust people to take action out of conviction rather than compulsion. We know it makes sense.

Happy Christmas.