To Cure a Rant: Do Something

This week our master gardener group hosted a three day rainwater harvesting specialist training course. I helped. Mostly I put out food and talked about plants I like, but I was there if they needed me.

The course leader was a man who lives very near the Texas hill country. The water source for his home is rainwater. That's right rain water and only rain water. The average rainfall in that area is less than 30 inches. Pretty impressive system, I think.

Our educators and speakers believe in acting as stewards of our land. They spoke of the unique position we find ourselves in today. Most of us do not live off of the land. Therefore, we do not have to exploit it in order to survive. We are in an enviable place. We can care for the land - really care for it by restoring native plants, returning water to our aquifers, and replenish the soil. We can do it one little bit of land at a time.

I came away from this week feeling empowered. I watched this small group of gardeners walk out of this course hauling off their bright shiny new rain barrels with plans to plant rain gardens. These few people now have the knowledge to help prevent storm water run off and return some of that water to our precious ground water.

We rant and rave about how nobody is doing anything and our environment is going to hell in a hand basket. Well, today I watched a few people, myself included, go out into the world with a little knowledge that can make a difference. And so it begins.