I spent part of Wednesday doing a final (I hope) clean-up of the garden plots. It was still very muddy, but I picked my way through the area grabbing plastic plant markers, bits of garden tape, styrofoam, and miscellaneous synthetic trash.
Going through the plots this way is meditative, and I got to thinking about what I can do differently this year. Picking up a ton of plastic plant markers -- in the fifth of my clean-ups, and after an Eagle Scout group did a fall clean-up -- has made me adamant about being more thoughtful about what non-synthetic items I bring into the garden this year, and how I want to mark my plants.
There are a lot of good ideas online for plant markers. The plastic labels that come with plants are terrific -- they usually have a picture of the plant as well as plant needs info. But they're small, they crack and break, they get lost under mulch, soil and plant parts by the end of the season. At that point, they're either destined to become part of the soil of the garden, or hopefully they're grabbed during one of the many clean-ups.
So I'm going for taller plant markers this year, or something bigger at least. Something I can see at the end of the season so I'll remember to remove them. Something cute that I won't want to leave behind. Something solid but not hurtful. Something that isn't destined to become part of our soil.
Here are some of my ideas: (all found on Pinterest.com)
leftover bricks
chopsticks
dollar store forks with leftover corks
laundry pins on a tall stick
stirrers from the paint store
rocks (can be painted)
pieces of old terra cotta pots
twigs from my yard
dollar store kitchen spoons
An important note: NO STYROFOAM IS ALLOWED IN THE GARDENS. One gardener used a styrofoam cup to protect the stem of a vegetable plant last year. I missed seeing it last year, but luckily I saw it in this clean-up and removed it. Styrofoam breaks so easily, and there's nothing natural about it. It just doesn't belong in an organic garden. Use an old tunafish can, or a small piece of tinfoil to protect stems, not styrofoam. Thanks!
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