February 24
The Perfect Storm and the Perfect Antidote
Today felt like the perfect storm …. globally and locally. It was a day of extreme overwhelm.
The international crisis of Russia invading Ukraine, and the local crises caused by torrential rainfall in the Blue Mountains … all overlaid with the ongoing pandemic.
In my own small patch, the weeds are out of control, whitefly have invaded my greenhouse and, despite all the rain, the cabbage white butterfly have suddenly been out in full force attacking the brassicas.
So, today, I did what always works when everything feels just too much – I focused on the beauty, not the problems of nature, to help me feel better.
I decided to create a mini indoor forest next to my desk, including a mini ‘kitchen’ garden. It was a ‘kitchen’ garden in the sense that I drilled holes into old saucepans, a cake tin, a sugar container and an empty olive oil can, so that I could use them as plant pots.
I made a quick trip to the nursery for some potting mix and a couple of indoor plants. I then got a bit drenched after work, but tackled some of my invasive weeds and potted up ivy and aluminium plants, and potted a few of the spiderettes off my spider plants.
I also rescued my parsley and kale seedlings, and am treating them as ornamental indoor plants so that I can keep a close eye on them until it gets too cold for the pests.
In the face of the perfect storm on a wet and depressing day, I lifted my mood by up-cycling old tins, bringing nature into my office, tackling some weeds and hopefully saving my winter kale crop. It’s been such a beautiful antidote to doom-scrolling and I can’t stop looking at it.
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