Benjamin Vogt's Blog, page 20

The Loss of Monarchs is a Loss of Far More

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The Garden Divorce with Sunflower

Gardens do so much for us. They console us, welcome us, connect us. They bring us moments of peace and reflection. They humble. They teach. Unfortunately, we also idealize our gardens (see previous sentences), place them on a pedestal so magnificent they almost seem untouchable and impervious to critique or change. This is a sort of marginalization, the same thing we do when we call nature "mother" and give it inherent or subconscious second class status -- something passive, subservient, or...

Joy Williams On the Morality of Environmental Issues

I teach a book called Ill Nature by Joy Williams to my writing classes. It's unique in that it includes both ranty, in-your-face essays, as well as narrative and ruminative essays; that contrast helps students see two ways of approaching any topic important to them, while making the writing more likely to win folks over. I always suggest that a combination of the two styles might be best.

Regardless, David Gessner once did an interview with Joy, and one of her responses has been a guiding ligh...

A Plethora of My Articles and Posts

I've been working on my gardening resume, some spring cleaning, and came up with a group of selected links to pieces I've written at both Houzz and Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens. Personally, I find this all much more interesting than seeing which high-priced actor won what award while wearing what dress that exposes what percentage of skin. If I want glitz and glamor I'll garden in moonlight under a mirror ball.

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Derrick Jensen on Ethics and Morals

“Any solution that does not take into account – or, rather, count as primary – polar bears, walruses, whippoorwills, bobwhites, chickadees, salmon, and the land and air and water that support them all – is no solution, because it doesn’t count the real world as primary and social constructs as secondary. Any such solution is in the most real sense neither realistic nor practical. An...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

Making Memes, Saving Monarchs and Prairie

I've been making memes and sharing them on social media, especially Facebook. These are some of the most successful ones so far. The first one had over 127,000 views (blew me away). Get crazy people, say what you mean, make a difference. If the ship is going down it's better to scream and shout then simply rearrange the lounge chairs (I stole that image from James Lovelock).

Getting Busy, Playing Catch Up, Loving Prairie

Tomorrow, 2/15 at 3pm, I'm speaking at the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture's Healthy Farms conference in Kearney, NE. Talking about how and why to attract pollinators to farms and backyard gardens.

On 2/20 I get to work with some local 8th graders in a writing workshop -- trying to come up with some fun, memoiry and lyrical essay exercises for us to do.

Then on March 4 I'm speaking to a local garden club here in Lincoln.

In April I'm speaking about attracting birds with native plants at the Blu...

Gardens Must Have Ecological Merit in the 21st Century

I had to respond to this insightful piece by Michael King, especially when he says at the very end the following:

"Gardening is not landscape architecture nor nature conservation. It is a form of aesthetic self expression and any attempts to afford it greater worthiness by applying unnecessary credentials of ecological merit are dishonest. Of course gardens benefit the environment and native wildlife, but first and foremost they are for human enjoyment and that is as true today as it ever was....

76 Photos of the 2013 Garden

This is just a tease, since the rest are up at TDM's Facebook page. I can't tell you how hard it is to cull thousands of photos! Could 2013 have been the last year here? If so, it's been a good nearly 7 year run.

Teaching Gardens: Aesthetics, Ecology, & Climate Change

My whole like I've felt like an outsider. In college, and even grad school, I was an English major taking writing classes. I wrote poems then essays then memoirs, but I never was part of the crowd -- I never felt like I really gelled. I wasn't into the same lifestyle as my writer cohorts, my beliefs were different, plus I was / am a massive introvert and needed writing to make sense of my emotions and daily interactions. I am my best self in words.

Just as I felt while in school, my second car...