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Re: Scope or focus of newsgroup
In article <MOD$971003.15698@rec.gardens.ecosystems>, kowens@teleport.com
(Jeff Owens) wrote:
> Jeff Owens wrote, .
> >> My interest is in finding out
> >> where we draw the line between ecological techniques and those that are
> >> not ecological.
> >
> Bill Robinson wrote:
> >You pose an interesting question. It would be helpful, however, if you
> >would spell out what you have in mind when you use the term,
> >"ecological techniques". In context, it would seem that you have in
> >mind some of the principals of sustainable agriculture but I don't
> >know if that is an accurate reading.
[snip]
> This does not answer my original query "where is the line
> between ecological and non-ecological". My feeling is that
> the line is very difficult to pin down and that the answer
> may be to keep watching it.
I think you have hit the nail on the head with the title of the thread. Had
you asked 'what is the scope' *or* 'what is the focus' of the group, you
would have been asking very similar questions. When you pair the words
though, the connotations make it a bit more interesting. The term 'scope'
implies something broad, while the term 'focus' has a connotation of
something narrower.
Likewise, your feeling that the line is difficult to pin down is appropo.
There are no hard and fast rules. Different people are going to have
diffeent definitions, and no matter what your definition, there are bound
to be gray areas.
To me, the focus (narrow interest) of the group is gardening in such a way
as to take advantage of and reinforce naturally-occuring processes, and to
reduce (or for some, to eliminate) what might be called "interventionist"
methods. (IMO, total elimination of intervention will prove impossible, but
that may not be the case, depending on how you define the term.)
Bill Robinson's earlier point about this being a forum for discussion and
not for a party line is well-taken. And that brings us to the scope of the
group (our wider interests). There is no one way to approach this subject.
There is a broad continuum between someone who lets a plot of land "go
wild" without any intervention, and someone who maintains a "golf-course"
lawn which is all one species, sprayed on schedule, cut uniformly, and so
on.
Neither of the two need to discuss anything about ecosystems: the first is
simply letting the chips fall where they may. The second knows what result
he wants, and how to get it. Indeed, the second one may not even be open to
discussion of ecosystems. These are extreme (if not uncommon) cases; most
of us fall somewhere in between, and have something to gain by discussing
these matters.
IMO, this group should be a proverbial "big tent". There should be room
here for permaculturalists and 'one straw revolutionaries'. They should be
able to expound their ideas without being called wackos, but also without
an automatic guarantee that their ideas will be accepted. There should be
room for the strict organic gardener who will not use even 'natural'
pesticides such as rotenone; and room for the not quite as strict organic
gardener who does use it. There should be room for the discussion of
bio-organics methods, which may or may not meet the criteria of 'organic'
gardening in the usual sense. There should be room for IPM types who see
pesticides as a last line of defense, and who work to reduce (though not
necessarily eliminate) the use of such materials. There should be room for
the confused suburbanite who just wants to create a little "wild"
landscaping and does not know how to begin. The rest of his lawn may be a
manicured monoculture (and in some subdivisions, he may have no choice),
but if he is looking to create an island of diversity in a monocultured
sea, he should be able to use this group for that purpose.
All the members of this broad scope of people can benefit from discussions
here, as all have interests that overlap in the narrow area of focus: how
to use natural processes to their own advantage (and, some of them might
add, to the advantage of the rest of the world). Not all of them will use
what you might consider to be 'ecological' techniques all the time. Perhaps
nobody who ever posts here will be 100% ecological in their methods
(depending on your definition, of course). All of them do have some
interest in the area though, so all should be included.
They should be free to discuss and debate the relative merits of their
various systems, and to learn from (and teach) others.
After all, we wouldn't want the group itself to be a monoculture, would we?
Regards,
Bill
--
Bill Morgan
wtmorgan@pilot.msu.edu
Center for Room Temperature Confusion
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