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One of my favorite ideas for enhancing the human-built environment is to have plenty of fruit trees, vines, and vegetable plants growing in the public space: in parks; along sidewalks; as living fences. As they say in real estate: “Location, Location, Location!”

One of our most foolish, and potentially fatal, human experiments is the one where we decided it’d be perfectly fine to not grow food near where people live, and to instead transport it from halfway across the country or around the world to our supermarkets. Bad idea! Let’s go ahead and quit this one before we have to see how it ends.

The other day while googling for lush fat yummy pictures of fruit trees and grapevines growing along city sidewalks, I instead stumbled on this article “5 Reasons Why Planting Fruit Trees Along Sidewalks Is a Terrible Idea.” Fortunately the five points are easy to refute.

1 – Most fruit would go unpicked, falling to the sidewalk and attracting wasps; creating a slip hazard. Ah, the good old “public safety” argument. First of all: The biggest public safety hazard in the United States is disease caused by bad dietary habits. I am pretty sure it exceeds the slip hazard. Anyway, it would be easy to ensure all the fruit gets picked. Publicize it widely so citizens know about it. People would be happy to harvest it for themselves, or to donate to food banks. And have city landscaping crews clean up any excess. You know, the landscaping crews who we now pay gazillions of our tax dollars to buzz-cut turf grass and make sure the ornamental shrubbery is perfectly square? They deserve a more worthwhile occupation, don’t you think? Yes, caring for fruit trees requires labor and special skill. But that translates into jobs and careers!! Imagine a city where the restaurants get to source at least some of their food from the immediate area. And where residents of all ages and educational levels are able to create their own cottage businesses around the public harvest. If my neighbor’s making jam, I’m buying some!

2 – Government won’t support it because of liability and expense. This is where the citizen push comes in. Citizens need to show their passion about this issue to help government see that it’s in our best interest to have a well-nourished population. Fear of litigation is always a concern, but some things are worth braving that for. Cities need to get some teeth in their legal departments. Food deserts are very unpopular these days; it’s a serious equity issue. Now that is a real liability. As for expense … See #1 above. I would love to know how much money a city spends on fussbudget grass-barbering, not to mention all that goes with it, such as application of chemicals.

3 – Pollution from passing cars could cause substandard fruit growth, disease, and so on. In every city I’ve visited, I’ve seen fruit trees growing just fine on private property despite exposure to automotive exhaust. Pollution from cars is a problem everywhere. Even on farms, pollution from mechanized equipment is surely an issue. Some fruit trees might not do well along city sidewalks, but that happens with purely ornamental plants too. At least with fruit trees we have a chance of harvesting something worthwhile. The article also said fruit trees are bad because we might have to spray chemicals to protect them — as if we don’t do that now for our vast expanses of turf grass and other “vanity landscaping.”

4 – Some fruit trees don’t live long, and might have to be replaced before they bear fruit. Yeah, that is a real possibility. Cities need to consult their local ag extension, Master Gardeners, and other experts to find the best varieties to plant. And cities should look into grapevines, kiwi fruit, and other non-tree fruit options as well.

5 – Fruit trees need a lot of sunlight. While there might not be enough sunlight on every street, that’s no reason not to plant at all. In addition, there are greens and other edible plants that do well in part shade; we can intersperse those with the fruit trees as conditions warrant.

Although the writer of this article doesn’t think fruit trees along sidewalks are a good idea, he or she does express a favorable view of community orchards and urban farms. And that’s something I can wholeheartedly agree with!

Recently I had the opportunity to give my “Soil 101” presentation, via Zoom, to my local chapter of Florida Native Plant Society.

Giving this presentation for the first time since the pandemic shutdown, I was reminded of how essential it is to get the word out about soil conservation. So I’m making you a post to highlight some of the main ideas, and share the sources I used.

• Soil consists of sand, clay, and silt in varying proportions, plus a substantial amount of air and water, plus organic matter (decaying leaves, microorganisms, etc.). Sand, clay, and silt are just names for rock particles, pulverized to varying degrees of fineness over time.

• A single teaspoon of healthy soil contains more soil microorganisms than there are people living on earth.

• Plants literally suck heat out of the air! That’s because photosynthesis (the process by which plants make food from sunlight) is an endothermic reaction. So the reason why you feel cooler when you walk past a clump of trees isn’t just because of the shade they create.

• Bare soil is exothermic (releases heat). In one experiment in a field on a 67-degree day (Fahrenheit), the temperature of a leaf surface was 59 (yes, cooler than the air temp); the temperature of a piece of paper was 89, and the temperature of bare soil was 138! Bare soil and pavement both contribute to heat-island effect.

• In addition to emitting heat, bare soil also releases carbon into the atmosphere (from decomposition of organic matter), and loses moisture over time. Allowing soil to remain bare (as opposed to covered by plants, mulch) leads to desertification. Up to 40% of rainfall comes from local evapotranspiration of water by plants (this is known as the “small water cycle”). When we denude the soil, we disrupt rainfall.

• Most of us, when we think about ways to mitigate climate change or extreme weather, the first thing that comes to mind is planting trees. While trees and other vegetation are great carbon sequesterers, the soil is even better at it. The pedosphere (the ground under our feet) sequesters four times as much carbon as the biosphere (vegetation and other living things). The great thing about working on soil is that, unlike planting and maintaining trees, it doesn’t require a green thumb, any money or even necessarily any outdoor space of your own!

• Got crappy soil? Super sandy, or mucky clay? No worries; the “fix” for poor soil is always “Add organic matter.” And the best way to do that is by composting. Which is super simple. See my previous post “Compost Basics.”

My Soil 101 presentation is available by Zoom, Facebook Live, or other channel of your convenience. I tailor it to your group’s goals and circumstances.

Further Exploration

*FREE RESOURCES:

– Betsy Ross presentation handout: “Living Soils: Bringing Dirt To Life. Soil Biology Impact on Soil Health, Pollution Control, and Plant Health.” http://www.bayoupreservation.org/BPASite/media/BPA/Symposium/2019/02-Bringing-Dirt-to-Life-Betsy-Ross.pdf

NRCS: visually appealing 2-page info handout “Soil Health Nuggets” https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1101660.pdf

*PAYMENT REQUIRED:

– “Soil Is the Climate Solution” – Soil Advocate training webinar by Finian Makepeace (sometimes available for free by special offer; I paid the regular rate of $99 which I felt was well worth it. You get permanent access to all course materials including slideshow which you can edit to your needs).  Empowers you with the info & ideas to get out and be an advocate for soil restoration. https://www.onecommune.com/products/soil-is-the-climate-solution-with-finian-makepeace

– Soil-Food Web: Foundation Courses by Elaine Ingham https://www.soilfoodweb.com/foundation-courses-2/(The short course I took last year was free; this one is $5,000! Obviously not the same course. I will keep my eyes open for the link to the short, free course I took with her. But for now, this page gives you a feel for her courses.) 

– Soil-Food Web Consultant Training Program by Elaine Ingham (professional training including period of remotely-supervised hands-on training; price $3,000) (seems like a great potential career path; one would always be in demand and be helping the earth) https://www.soilfoodweb.com/training-program/

Crazy! I could have sworn I had already given you a post by this title, but apparently I had not. Please pardon me for waiting so long to create this post on such an important topic.

You can make composting as simple or as complicated as you want. I prefer simple. If you prefer complicated, Google will be happy to oblige! I specialize in simple. So here you go:

When you think about ways to mitigate climate change and extreme weather, what comes to mind? You probably said “planting trees.” But an even more powerful way is by adding organic matter to the soil. In other words: Compost! By composting your kitchen scraps and yard trimmings instead of sending them to landfill, you become a strong climate ally. 

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about composting. If done properly, compost is not messy or smelly. (In fact, it’s a lot less messy and smelly than putting your food scraps in the trash.) 

And it doesn’t require hard labor. If you’re fit enough to get in a car and drive somewhere, you’re fit enough to manage a compost bin. And you don’t need a yard or garden.  Whether you choose to collect your kitchen scraps in a tidy bin that fits under your kitchen sink, feed them to your worms in an in-house vermicompost box, or carry them out to a bin or pile in your yard, the basic principle is the same. Compost requires just four ingredients: 1) Air; 2) Water; 3) Greens; 4) Browns. 

“Greens” are kitchen scraps (vegetable, meat, cheese, coffee grounds, shrimp tails, etc.), and fresh yard trimmings. “Browns” are dried grass clippings or leaves, paper, cardboard scraps. Greens are rich in nitrogen; browns are rich in carbon. Together with air and water, they break down into a rich material that fertilizes the soil while sequestering carbon. Believe it or not, the pedosphere (soil) can sequester four times as much carbon as the biosphere (trees and other plants). But in order to accomplish this feat, the soil needs organic matter. That’s why composting is so important (besides radically reducing the bulk, weight, and odor of your household trash).

If composting seems like too much trouble to you, it’s probably just because you don’t realize how easy it actually is, or how much good it does the planet. Once you actually try it, you will be amazed at how easy it is. You simply alternate layers of greens and browns in your bin or pile, and nature takes care of the rest. I think of it as making layers of lasagna — microbial lasagna!

The main obstacle to composting is just … starting. Just start. It’s a natural process and you can’t go wrong. The main thing that turns people off, once they get started, is if the pile gets slimy and smelly. You haven’t made some horrible mistake. Don’t let this turn you off of composting. All this means is you need to add more “browns” to your pile. Dried twigs, dead leaves, hay, straw, dry grass clippings are all good.

(And: Contrary to popular belief, you can include meat scraps, cheese, and other animal products in the pile.)

One of the best ways we can show love for our kids and grandkids is by making sure we leave the world in better shape for them than we found it. This is far more important than showering them with expensive gifts. If we love our kids and grandkids enough to travel across the country or around the world to see them (and by the way, ideally we’re all purchasing carbon offsets for that travel — it only adds a few bucks to the ticket price, and it’s the right thing to do), we need to back up that love with strong eco action at the household level.

I have a lot of composting experience, from household to community scale, and am familiar with many different approaches. As part of the free “Deep Green” consultation that comes with your purchase of my book (and now also with your download of the free PDF version), I’m happy to help you research the best compost system for your circumstances, and get it set up.  

Lately I am feeling drawn more and more inward, finding stability and inspiration deep within myself. I’ve stepped down from several activities and committees; I’ve started feeling more zeroed-in on my own inner truth. With all that’s happening in the world — all the work that needs to be done — allowing myself to be drawn inward doesn’t make sense “on paper,” but the more I surrender to the pull, the more I feel in harmony with the universe and with my work. And then somehow it turns out I actually end up getting more writing, speaking, “green domestic science experiments,” and other work done! It’s like having my cake and eating it too. So I’m trusting myself and surrendering to the inward gravitational pull more and more.

It feels like a force of nature I’m surrendering to. Like a whirlpool that leads to my innermost, quietmost core. A space of stillness where no actions are taken unless absolutely necessary.

Over the past few months I’ve been compiling helpful links and snippets related to “surrender.” Hope you find the following reads as supportive and enjoyable as I do. Some of them are old favorites of mine; others reached my inbox more recently.

Quotes:

• “Right now, we are imaginal cells in the cocoon of Covid-19. I believe we emerge from this cocoon as humans who value the earth and each other more than we ever have.” — Cynthia Schaefer, founder of GrowSocial, a new network designed to connect people with resilience resources in their local area; www.growsoc.com is the link

• The Story of Imaginal Cells (from Imaginal Labs): “We all grew up knowing a bit about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The truly amazing part of this process, however, is in the scientific detail of how it actually happens in nature. After a period of ravenous consumption, a caterpillar finds an appropriate perch and forms a chrysalis – so far so good. The end result, we know, is a butterfly, but the truly astonishing thing is that there is no structural similarity at all between a caterpillar and a butterfly. Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar, unable to move, actually dissolves into organic goop. Cells, which had been dormant in the caterpillar and which biologists have the poetic genius to call ‘imaginal cells,’ begin a process of creating a new form and structure. At first these imaginal cells – the seeds of future potential, which contain the blueprint of a flying creature—operate independently as single-cell organisms. They are regarded as threats and are attacked by the caterpillar’s immune system. But they persist, multiply, and connect with each other. The imaginal cells form clusters and clumps, begin resonating at the same frequency and passing information back and forth until they hit a tipping point. They begin acting not as discrete individual cells but as a multi-cell organism – and a butterfly is born.”

• “Just as with any potent medicine, we have to stay the whole course of treatment to get the full benefits, preferably, without ambivalence. Most importantly, we need to use the power of our minds to optimize this once-in-a-lifetime FGO (f**kin growth opportunity) by focusing on healing what truly ails us. Nearly everyone, to some degree or another, has been affected by the collective soul sickness of humanity for most of our lives, in terms of what truly gives meaning and value to this precious incarnation.” — from the email newsletter of Joan Pancoe, Modern Mystic, JoanPancoe.com

• “There are times when our whole world seems to be falling apart around us, and we are not sure what to hold onto anymore. Sometimes our relationships crumble and sometimes it’s our physical environment. At other times, we can’t put our finger on it, but we feel as if all the walls have fallen down around us and we are standing with nothing to lean on, exposed and vulnerable. These are the times in our lives when we are given an opportunity to see where we have established our sense of identity, safety, and well-being. And while it is perfectly natural and part of our process to locate our sense of self in externals, any time those external factors shift, we have an opportunity to rediscover and move closer to our core, which is the only truly safe place to call home.” — Madisyn Taylor in When Our World Falls Apart, an article from her email newsletter (subscribe at DailyOM.com)

• “Resistance tends to strengthen the energies it attempts to oppose by giving them power and energy to work against. Additionally, resistance keeps us from learning more about what we resist. In order to fully understand something, we must open to it enough to receive its energy; otherwise, we remain ignorant of its lessons.” — Madisyn Taylor in The Wisdom of Surrender.

• “If I could not be peaceful in the midst of danger, then the kind of peace I might have in simpler times is meaningless. If I could not find peace in the midst of difficulty, I knew I would never know real peace.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

• “Despite the common belief that it is the speed and intensity of your efforts, your raw hustle that determines the pace at which you evolve and transform, nature seems to bring a much deeper truth: your transformation is directly related to the value, time, and energy you put into being still, staying connected, and operating from a place of inner solitude, listening, and witnessing… beauty. We face huge challenges regarding natural resources, climate changes, racial inequities, macro-economic shifts, and the entire ecosystem in which it all resides, all of which has been amplified throughout this global pandemic. Imagine what would happen if we stopped running in the lanes of old paradigms and paused the entire machinery of humanity to realize where we are – and recognize that this tipping point in our time is exactly what we have all been waiting for – a reason to pause. What if we stopped long enough to really take in the reality of the devastation we have created, in order to now recognize the opportunity that exists in another direction, one we’ve never, together, seen before – a new path, a chance to transform. It’s accessible now, we just have to be still long enough to find it. Let’s pause for another beat, to embrace the opportunity for a non-linear transformation…” — Dr. Zach Bush

• “When a cat falls out of a tree, it lets go of itself, becomes completely relaxed, and lands lightly on the ground. If the cat made up its mind that it didn’t want to fall, it would become tense and rigid and would just be a bag of broken bones upon landing. In the same way, it is the philosophy of the Tao that we are all falling out of a tree, at every moment of our lives. As a matter of fact, the moment we were born we were kicked off a precipice and we are falling—and there is nothing we can do to stop it. So, instead of living in a state of constant tension and clinging to all sorts of things that are actually falling with us because the whole world is impermanent, be like a cat. Don’t resist it.” — Alan Watts

Deities who embolden me to surrender to the massive wave of chaos:

Akhilandeshivari “The Goddess Who Is Never Not Broken.” (Note: Akhilandeshivari is a Hindu goddess; this website presents an interpretation of her by practitioners of a Wiccan path that draws inspiration from gods and goddesses of many different religions.) “She shows us the power and opportunity of being broken into pieces by heartache, disaster, great fortune, and other life changes and traumas. However She takes this to the furthest extreme, purposefully keeping Herself broken wide open, allowing Herself to flow with every current, creating and fragmenting and recreating Herself endlessly.” “It’s normal to fear and resist change, but Akhilandeshvari whispers to us also of freedom — liberation from the past, from habits and wounds, from stifling routines, from everything that once was good but has become a burden or a prison. Liberation, indeed, from all the illusions of the ego.”

Books:

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Pema Chödrön and 2 more)

The Magic of Findhorn (Paul Hawken): Incredible book, must-read! These people were divinely guided to start an RV park food-garden community by the sea in northern Scotland back in the 1970s, after losing their jobs at a hotel. They totally lived by intuition; grew a phenomenally lush garden by intuitively connecting with plant devas. Made sudden life-changes that made no sense “on paper” but were totally right. Really, surrender is a bold spiritual action, and this lovely book is a reminder of that. Findhorn is now a thriving eco-village that attracts people from all over the world.

The Grace in Dying (Kathleen D. Singh): Sterling counsel about surrender. Not just for the dying, but for all of us.

I’m a city girl and do not automatically hate new development. That said …

• I think that when someone wants to build a residential complex outside the core urban area, it either needs to be in walking distance of (at minimum) a grocery store and drugstore, or else the developer needs to include (at minimum) a grocery store and drugstore as part of their site plan. We seriously have to start reducing the need for car trips.

• Also, all of our roads need either wide sidewalks or bike lanes. No more roads that are only safe by automobile.

(This is a rant, but it ends with links to delightful alternatives that are happening.)

What passes for “normal” landscaping practices is disgusting. As I type this, my neighborhood is being blasted with deafening noise and sickening fumes from tractor-mowers, blowers, and edgers. Giving the stupid grass and useless ornamental shrubbery a high-and-tight. Weren’t these people just here three days ago? Do they get paid by the hour or the visit or what? This is on city property (as it happens — our tax dollars at work!), but I’m not calling out any one entity, because the norm is pervasive, affecting the public and private domains alike.

With every little bit of this land we could be growing fruit trees! Vegetables! Shade trees! Native plants!! Instead, we pay big bucks to maintain ugly and useless, assault our senses, pollute the air, raise the ambient temperature.

I realize that as environmentalists, we focus a lot of our energy and angst on protesting the clearcutting of virgin land for development. And I certainly don’t want to discount the importance of preserving wild lands. But our landscaping practices on existing developed land, and our failure to make productive and ecologically sound use of existing developed land, are at least as big a problem.

As I type this, I am somewhat calming down, but this prevailing social norm to me is hideous, outrageous, and disgusting. The noise and fumes are still being spewed, and the nice respectable “landscaping” company will continue to earn a sh*tpile of money for this racket. “Racket” — Pun unintended but it fits. SMH. I seriously feel assaulted by our mow-and-blow culture, and if you don’t, maybe you have tougher eyes, ears, and lungs than I do.

Mark Lane, who writes a column in my local paper (Daytona Beach News-Journal), calls himself the “Darwinian Gardener.” His columns serve up a smattering of current topics along with his lackadaisical gardening philosophy. I always enjoy Mr. Lane’s column, but he really outdid himself this time, talking about things he’s noticed as a result of being home all the time because of the pandemic: “I learned that there are far more lawn services using far more powerful machinery operating before 10 a.m. than I would have guessed before. I also learned there are far more tree services knocking on doors than I would have guessed before. Some of them point out the hazards I am cultivating right in my front yard. I tell them I’m a man who lives a life of danger.”

All joking aside, I have friends who are constantly being harassed by the land-scrapers/scalpers. Their yard is a mix of fruit trees, vegetable plants, and a thick green carpet of multiple types of hardy ground-cover plants that thrive on minimal maintenance. These friends have literally had land-scalping companies sneak into their backyard and take pictures, then phone my friends and tell them why their yard needed to be “nuked” to kill off the ground cover so some nice lovely sod could be laid down. (My friends told them to never set foot on their property again or they would call the police.)

I don’t know how things are where you live. But here in Florida, it seems like a sizable percentage of the population has a vendetta against the entire plant kingdom (other than turf-grass). This is just one manifestation of our culture’s disconnect from nature.

One of my current areas of focus as an eco educator is attempting to get more of my fellow environmentalists to notice what a major chunk of money, labor, and fossil fuels we are expending for a bunch of busywork. Not to mention degrading the soil, a deadly mistake (topic for an upcoming blog post). And how much better things could be, probably for no extra money or labor if we take into account the monetary and social value of what we could be growing instead, like food or forests.

This is actually something that will have to start from the bottom up, with a shift in social norms. The same way that environmentally unfriendly standards in HOAs and local codes began. Trends, solidifying into norms. Natural gardening and food-growing is experiencing a rise in popularity; we just each have to do our best to contribute to their popularization. And de-normalize, de-popularize violent, rapacious landscaping practices.

We environmentalists are big on waving signs, writing letters, circulating petitions. “Speaking truth to power,” we call it.

Well, how about speaking a little truth to the yahoos who run our homeowners’ associations. Or speaking truth to our own husbands, for gosh sake (those of you who have husbands, and whose husbands are the lawn-obsessed variety). “Speaking truth to power” could be as simple as saying to your husband, “Honey, I’m putting my foot down. Your lawn obsession is bad for the environment. I want to be able to look my hypothetical seven-generations-great-grandchildren in the eye. You need to find a less destructive hobby.” And if you’re lucky, maybe the hobby he picks will be going hunting or fishing (apologies to my vegan or vegetarian friends here; I’m an omnivore making a plug for hyperlocal, non-factory-farmed meat). Or growing fruit trees!

(I know my comment about husbands and lawns might sound sexist, and I do know at least one couple where the wife is the one who wants a manicured yard, but honestly if I had a dime for every time I’ve heard a woman say she wants a natural non-manicured yard but “my husband won’t allow it”… well, I would have more money than I’d be able to spend in this lifetime!)

All of us, regardless of gender, need to strengthen our “Mama Bear” instincts; become bolder defenders of nature right where we live. We need to be a lot less shy; a lot less afraid of offending; a lot more fiercely protective. All of our lives depend on it.

I’ve posted a lot of links (on this blog, on my Deep Green Facebook page, and in various forums) about why lawns are bad for the environment. There are so many good articles out there, including many in the major mainstream papers. (And I’ve posted about how you can have a lawn that isn’t bad for the environment. #GinnyStibolt #FreedomLawn.) In my Further Exploration section below, I’m taking a different approach: highlighting lovely and desirable alternatives to entice people to loosen their attachment to the big flat monoculture lawn. Enjoy!

Further Exploration:

Tiny urban forests are boosting biodiversity; mitigating climate change: “Miniature forests are springing up on patches of land in urban areas around the world, often planted by local community groups using a method inspired by Japanese temples.” (from WeForum.org) And this page on saytrees.org has photos showing how fast a Miyawaki forest can grow in just two years.

30 tiny Zen-inspired gardens (Pinterest board). Inspiration station! Check out the breathtaking, exquisite little micro-worlds on this Pinterest board. “30 Magical Zen Gardens.” Landscaping can be so much pleasure!! So quiet and creative and restorative. So much more than the expensive ugly high-and-tight lawn-drudgery that we’ve made it. And you could easily choose edible, medicinal, and native plants for any garden you design, even an artsy little universe like this.

Church Forests of Ethiopia (National Geographic): “The forests provide a kind of ‘respectful covering’ for the churches at their centers and the riches they hold. Some of them are estimated to be 1,500 years old—tiny, ancient islands of historic habitat in a changed landscape.”

The other day, a plant-whisperer friend, who’s always bringing me cuttings and other goodies, brought me a Miracle Fruit. It was a tiny (about pill-size) bright-red smooth ovoid fruit. Eat this, he told me, and for a little while afterward, anything you drink or eat that ordinarily tastes sour will taste super sweet.

So I gave it a try. The fruit itself (which is mostly taken up by a seed in the middle that you don’t eat) tasted pleasantly sweet.

After ingesting the fruit (felt like popping a mystery adventure pill!), I took a sip of my “morning tonic” (water with a bit of cider-vinegar). Sure enough, my drink, which of course is usually tart, had suddenly been transformed into a super-sweet apple elixir.

Miracle Fruit. It occurred to me that it could have useful application. For example, if a person had to take an extremely unpleasant-tasting medicine, eating a Miracle Fruit immediately beforehand could make the medicine easier to swallow.

But then it occurred to me that Miracle Fruit could have a dangerous side. Things taste sour for a reason. For example, if you drank an entire glass of straight vinegar or concentrated lemon juice because Miracle Fruit made it taste sweet, you could hurt your esophagus or stomach! My advice would be, if you eat a Miracle Fruit, don’t eat or drink anything out of the ordinary for awhile afterward; stick to only foods and drinks you know, in familiar concentrations.

Reflecting upon my Miracle Fruit experience, I was struck by the thought that we are surrounded, metaphorically speaking, by potential “Miracle Fruit” of various kinds in our everyday lives. And they keep us from noticing the aspects of our lives and our society that are deeply sour (or bitter). So we keep enduring those sour or bitter things instead of avoiding or changing them as we would be better off doing.

For example, economic security could be a “Miracle Fruit” obscuring the sour taste of a bad marriage. Or a soul-sucking job.

Our climate-controlled, noise-insulating houses, with their closed doors and windows, can be “Miracle Fruit” dulling our sensitivities to the brutishly noisy, hot environment we have created outdoors. The harsh noise and toxic fumes of the landscaping equipment that scalps the grass and trees; the hot air spewing out the back ends of people’s air-conditioners.

Our cars, traveling bubbles that they are, can be a “Miracle Fruit” that keeps us from experiencing the blistering heat of our excessively paved, deforested world, and realizing we really need to have a lot more trees and other vegetation all around us.

White privilege can be a “Miracle Fruit” rendering us oblivious to the fact that systemic racism harms us all, not only the Black people and other people of color who it harms most.

Blind patriotism, with its feel-good self-righteousness, is a “Miracle Fruit” that numbs us to the horrors we wreak by waging war.

Stock-market gains and a “booming economy” can be a “Miracle Fruit” that erases the sour taste of how those corporations are gaining their prosperity: at the expense of their employees; indigenous peoples’ lands; our rivers and oceans and forests.

Our abundant supply of cable TV, internet, and other entertainment on tap can be a “Miracle Fruit” that dulls our ability to perceive the sourness of living in an HOA neighborhood where any creative urges we might have are quashed by a fussbudget culture that curtails self-expression.

Food or alcohol, indulged in excess, can be a “Miracle Fruit” dulling our spiritual tastebuds to the sense of loss that comes of not challenging ourselves to go make something creative, or go out walking and meet a new person.

I don’t want anyone to feel guilty about indulging in comforts and pleasures; I certainly have my comforts and pleasures. (For example, I love watching a show called Dexter! I watch it with my neighbor, on his wide-screen TV. We get together for an evening of Dexter-binging once every couple of weeks.)

We just can’t allow those little indulgences to become “Miracle Fruit” that dull our ability to fully taste the flavor of our lives. Things that taste sour, taste sour (or bitter) for a reason. By choosing to experience their flavor as is, we are more likely to get motivated to change what needs to be changed, in our lives or in the world. And that, in the long run, is really sweet!

All this aside, eating the Miracle Fruit, and then having my vinegar-water taste sweet, was a wild fun experience! Try it sometime if you get the chance.

What other metaphorical examples of “Miracle Fruit” can you think of, in the world or in your life?

Further Reading:

“The Evolution of Bitter Taste,” by Robert Christopher Bruner on ScholarBlogs. Fun facts on how bitter taste works; how humans evolved bitter-taste receptors.

“Miracle Fruit” entry in Britannica.com