Again, please use you're imagination and pretend this post is for Friday January 21 2011.
Lately I have been thinking about plants almost every day of the week! I'm also taking a botany class this semester and I now have three house plants. I also have beans, corn, corms, lettuce, carrots, potatoes and a tincture at the botanical gardens. Talk about a lot of plants! I'm very enthusiastic about this whole experience though. I think that gardening is a very rewarding, useful skill to have.
Because I have been around plants so often I have been thinking a lot about why plants are important in the first place. Plants can be used for clothes, they're used for food, they are synthesized to make almost all medicines, they can be used to make paper, they can be used for shelter, AND they're beautiful. Plants are the source of human life. They're everything. So why do people insist on destroying them? People introduce toxins to plants, they move them out of their natural habitats, they clear them out to put buildings all over the land. I'm convinced that only humans destroy beauty. It makes me frustrated at my own kind, at myself. BUT I think that's why I decided to take botany. I want to give something back to the world. I want to be able to plant plants that I know will not ruin the ecosystem and harvest them and use their gifts, whatever they may be. I think this could become a very positive part of my life.
Something else is bothering me now though. It's the lecture we had this past week about water conservation. I couldn't believe the statistics I was hearing. I knew that running out of water was becoming a bigger threat to the world, but I had no idea that it is almost a reality now. What would this mean for agriculture? What would this mean for plants? It's only been a little over a week and I've already grown attached to my garden. I've already given those plants a lot of my time and care. What if one day we all have to stop caring for our own plants because there's not enough water for people to have their own gardens? Water for plants would be limited to the farmers. Farmers that are a part of huge industries, that America would then have to continue to feed in to and it's these industries that consume all the water in the first place. It's just one big cycle.
It really makes me feel like such a small person sometimes. Who am I? I have no political power. Im not a part of any environmental activism groups. I don't tell people that I am fighting for important humanitarian causes. But then I tell myself: Hey! You're Taylor Bultema. You;re taking classes so you can be get informed about these kinds of things. You have a vegetable garden and three house plants and healing a tincture. And I hold on to that because it's the best I got to offer right now and its good enough for me.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
My very first house plant
For those of you who don't know I created this blog for a class where I will be learning, discussing, and making art about nature. This blog will be used to document a plant I received on my first day of class. I will also be reflecting on nature and my relationship with my new house plant! Unfortunately, I am a little behind. We were supposed to start this blog two Friday ago, right after we first got the plant. So please use your imagination and pretend this entry is for Friday January 14 2011
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This week I received a brand new house plant. I discovered that my plant is called Chlorophytum comosum, otherwise known as a spider plant. Spider plants are native to South Africa and therefore don't like being below 50 degrees. They need to be watered once a week and can survive in semi-shady to partial-direct sunlight. For class, we had to come up with ideas of how to house our plant and how to help it survive. Here are sketches of my two ideas:
The first picture is a planter that uses negative reinforcement to get me to water the plant. By having the plant set up to an IV I will be reminded that it is a living thing that is capable of die and will therefore remember to water it. The second image is a planter that uses positive reinforcement to get me to water it. If I give the plant water, the water will power the pot to play a song.
When I was first given my plant I was strangely nervous. It's the first plant I have ever been given. With that comes a pressure to keep it alive. I think I felt that if I killed this plant it would prove in my inability to be a good care taker, or a great gardener for that matter. The pressures of having to be responsible for a living being can be very overwhelming, even if it is just a simple house plant. People don't normally get satisfaction from killing things. At the same time I am thankful that I have something to look after that I can call my own. Taking care of things makes people feel like they have a purpose. Which is a very healthy feeling to have. Right after I got my plant I named it Herb. I've already played it a classical song because I heard that that is stimulating for plants ( I should do some research to confirm or deny this). I think the future will only bring more bonding experiences for Herb and I. So far, he's looking mighty healthy. I am a little concerned though because in order for Herb to get sunlight I have to place him by the window and it is quite cold by my window. I had to take him away for a break because he was looking a little droopy one day, I will have to find a solution to this and will share it with you all in the future. Until next time!
TBultema
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This week I received a brand new house plant. I discovered that my plant is called Chlorophytum comosum, otherwise known as a spider plant. Spider plants are native to South Africa and therefore don't like being below 50 degrees. They need to be watered once a week and can survive in semi-shady to partial-direct sunlight. For class, we had to come up with ideas of how to house our plant and how to help it survive. Here are sketches of my two ideas:
The first picture is a planter that uses negative reinforcement to get me to water the plant. By having the plant set up to an IV I will be reminded that it is a living thing that is capable of die and will therefore remember to water it. The second image is a planter that uses positive reinforcement to get me to water it. If I give the plant water, the water will power the pot to play a song.
When I was first given my plant I was strangely nervous. It's the first plant I have ever been given. With that comes a pressure to keep it alive. I think I felt that if I killed this plant it would prove in my inability to be a good care taker, or a great gardener for that matter. The pressures of having to be responsible for a living being can be very overwhelming, even if it is just a simple house plant. People don't normally get satisfaction from killing things. At the same time I am thankful that I have something to look after that I can call my own. Taking care of things makes people feel like they have a purpose. Which is a very healthy feeling to have. Right after I got my plant I named it Herb. I've already played it a classical song because I heard that that is stimulating for plants ( I should do some research to confirm or deny this). I think the future will only bring more bonding experiences for Herb and I. So far, he's looking mighty healthy. I am a little concerned though because in order for Herb to get sunlight I have to place him by the window and it is quite cold by my window. I had to take him away for a break because he was looking a little droopy one day, I will have to find a solution to this and will share it with you all in the future. Until next time!
TBultema
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