2012-05-28 Interconnected

Post date: May 28, 2012 7:20:52 PM

As the plants in the garden are growing and changing, I am beginning to realize that they are all part of multiple systems and relationships. Even though most of them are growing in individual newspaper planters in my office right now, there are multiple interactions occurring all the time.

Most obviously, the plants are going through photosynthesis using the water, carbon dioxide, and light provided by myself and the sun coming through my window. In return, the plants are producing oxygen of which I am sure I am breathing, as well as sugar. Although I am not eating the plants for energy, there has been at least one visitor in my office who has consumed some Alpine Paintbrush for energy.

The plants have also been taking up nutrients from the soil in the planters. Although the soil likely has plenty of nutrients for the small plants at the moment, they are getting some extra help. Many of the newspaper planters have mould and even (oyster?) mushrooms growing on the outsides. These work to break down large molecules in the soil so they can be used by the plants. The fungus roots can also form symbiotic relationships with the plant roots as they exchange various nutrients.

Around the Mountain Locoweed planters, there seems to also be an abundance of small flies over the past month. I am not sure what the relationship is here, but they seem to be surviving and thriving near the plants and soil.

Recently, a Sticky Geranium sprout has come up with one of the Alpine Paintbrush plants. I think I may have transplanted the Paintbrush into a planter that already had seeds in the soil. But this also shows that plants are well adapted to co-existing with each other! The Paintbrushes are known to prefer to grow alongside other plants, as they attach to the roots of their neighbors. I’m sure once we move all the plants into the gardens next week, we will see a lot of helping relationships forming between the plant species.

As this is an Indigenous teaching garden, it is important to remember that this relates to an important concept within Aboriginal culture: interconnectedness. It is understood that all things are interconnected to one another in some way. Despite all the scientific knowledge of the relationships occurring in my office, it is important to consider alternative relationships. I invite you to consider all the relationships that might be occurring in the planters, and attempt to return the relationships back to the point at which you started.