I’m Not Green Obscene, But I Do Care

 

As the EPA tries to bypass Congress (not that they’d act on anything anyway) to impose Cap ‘N Tax on the energy industry.  While POTUS tries to force green vehicles on us and uses taxpayer funds to subsidize the global “green machine.”  I have to make an observation.  Water.  Potable water is one of our most precious resources.  In times of drought it becomes even more precious..

I’m not “Green Obscene”, but I do care about our environment.  From the time fifty years ago that a teacher pointed out to me that natural resources are not finite.  Unless they are managed properly eventually everything God gave us will run out.

I’m sitting right in the middle of a major drought (not the first I’ve experienced in my life and certainly not the last) where rivers and lakes are drying up and wildlife and livestock are struggling for hydration and the potential for fire is frightening.  Most years it’s very dry where I live come June, July and August so it has long been my practice not to water my grass.  I’ve got this “survival of the fittest” attitude when it comes to grass.  If it want sto survive badly enough it will put down deeper roots and that will benefit it even when there is no drought.  But this year I realized that wasting water on ornamentals was a pretty bad idea.  I made the decision to allow those ornamentals to perish in the drought and heat.  I could not justify wasting water on pretty flowers and attractive trees.

I determined instead to let nature take it’s course and replace those ornamentals next year with edibles.  I don’t have a problem with watering my garden.  We eat that food which in turn provides us with a good deal of hydration. So decision made I am determined to replace every ornamental in the yard with something edible.  I won’t cut down existing shade trees that were here when I got here, but they are all full growth and I am applying my SOTF theory to them. 

Decision made I’ve been mentally plotting next years plantings.  I do this mostly when I’m going from one place to another in my car.  I ruminate.  As I was making and an early morning grocery store run my ruminations were interrupted by the Social Security office’s sprinkler system showering my windshield.  I glanced over to see that most of the water they were applying to their grass was hitting the street.  “Call and have them adjust the sprinklers”, you say.  I could, but that only solves the one problem.  I began to notice on my occasional forays into town that there’s a whole lot of watering going on at all local, state and federal buildings.  You can’t stop them.  They don’t want the grounds of their buildings to appear blighted.  They will water regardless.  But how about if we actually put our tax dollars to good use for a change? 

I think all new construction  for any government building should require that only edibles be planted.  Berry bushes, fruit and citrus trees and even vegetables.  They could plan raised beds into their construction that would offer seating for people eating lunches or taking breaks or just those that have to wait in long lines at DMV’s and court houses.  Governments often contract to yard services for maintenance on their grounds.  Why not allow community groups to plant and service these gardens and turn the produce over to food banks.  If this were as successful as I think it could be a lot of the harvest could be used to supplement our federal cafeterias and lunch rooms.

I like this idea a lot, but more than anything I truly hope that anyone reading this realizes it’s time to stop wasting our water and start putting it to good use.  Don’t water your grass, don’t wash your car until the rains come and plant something you can eat.  Garden plants are really very attractive and a little goes a long way.