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Thoughts on health, happiness and sustainability

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Not all weeds are villains

It has always frustrated me how gardeners seem to wage a holy war against weeds. Anything that they did not plant and doesn’t fit with their rigid “garden plan” is classified as a weed and a criminal targeted for extermination.

Just because we didn’t plan something doesn’t automatically make it bad. Some of the best plants in my garden are wild plants that are edible, beautiful, or both. Why on earth would I want to consider them weeds? Why on earth would I invest my own time and energy to remove them, and why would I use poisonous chemicals to kill them?

Three Cornered Leek
Beautiful and delicious three cornered leeks are considered a pest, but should be considered as dinner

The definition of a weed is “a wild plant growing where it is not wanted”, so the easiest way to get rid of weeds is to change your attitude towards them. If you want them to be there, then they cease to be weeds!

I’m not saying that all wild plants in the garden are a good thing, but we should take a step back and ask ourselves, “Which ones are really causing us a problem? Which ones might actually be beneficial?

We must accept that we cannot control everything in life and that just because something is out of our control, it isn’t necessarily bad for us.  When we mistake opportunities for threats, we miss out on some of the best things in life.  By opening our eyes to look objectively at things outside of our own design, we can end up with results better than we could have achieved on our own.


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