Mow or Not?

To Mow or Not to Mow, That is the Question

Today while mowing my lawn, I became increasingly uncomfortable as I saw how I was decapitating the tops of the lovely little chickweed flowers, bluets, purple self-heal, tall yellow hawkweed, violets, wood sorrel and other unnamed little plants that I have yet to identify. My lawn is really a closet meadow, very little actual grass. I was mowing because I was caving to the expectation that my lawn be green, neat and short.

Conformity, sameness and bland is what the world expects, wants and is comfortable with. The trend in the populated areas is houses on streets with restrictive covenants to ensure some level of sameness. Gardens organized and planned to have colour splashes, height and textures in just the right spots. Lawns that are uniform green and weeded, so only the chosen plants grow.

Then I thought about what I love about my home and why I want to be here. Each of us has carved out our own unique, unconventional homesteads dotted in every nook and cranny along this shore. I love our collection of non-matching homes, unusual yard structures, escaped gardens, wild roses on the sides of the roads, chicken coops, sheds of all kinds, garages of all shapes, beached boats and old cars in fields on blocks.

Now as the years have passed, my yard has become a medicine chest. These weeds are food with rich nutrients and properties that I can use to enhance my everyday meals. So I have come to a decision. I don’t have to mow. I have a whole meadow of healing herbs I use to fortify my home made bone broth. The soil I use for my gardens is made from the material I composted in the previous year. I also use ashes from my wood stove to sweeten the lawn and wild areas, put back nutrients and raise the pH to improve absorption. This way not only can I fortify my diet with the plants the universe has provided me with, I can be sure that both my wild and cultivated plants are happy and nutritious.