With all the stuff we need to worry about… here is something more – bugs. Yes, you should worry about our little, planet companions because everything else on this planet eats them – except us.

            We hate bugs, even though mice and bugs feed the worlds ecosystems. They are just one step above grass on the food chain. We despise the little creatures, calling them ugly and dirty or we are afraid they are going to bite us. So, if we would like to see our ecosystems be whole, start with the small. Some of us, who love to garden, feel like we enhance the ecosystem with our tending. But do we?

We love to plant unusual cultivars from far off ecosystems. We like them to be maintenance free and that bugs don’t eat. For the birds, we buy bird seed. Even though that is not the birds preferred diet. Seeds don’t give them enough protein to have babies. Only bugs do that. And Buddha only knows, what the birdseed farmers do to keep the birds from eating their crop.

            With the increase of lawn-and-square-bush mentality, native trees and plants are disappearing, hence the bugs disappear then the birds decrease. What about the other cool creatures that some deplore but children love -the frogs and snakes? They eat bugs too. They also need fresh water. In our towns and cities, the water is all covered over by roads and houses. We call what use to be a creek, the sewer.  

This may seem radical, but a radical shift of our values needs to be happen’ now- at all levels. We can’t do everything, and some things we feel powerless to change but planting a few native species or herbs in our yards can help the ecosystem from the ground up. Place a shallow dish of water in your back yard. The birds, mice, raccoons, and rats suffer from lack of water both to drink and bath. Also try paying attention to the trees around you. Are they native, do you see bugs on them, and do you admire their beauty? Or even not putting bug killer all over your yard-if you are just waking up to that.

In one of the classic books of hippie culture is the “Secret Life of Plants” by Bird and Tompkins. They do experiments with plants and find that plants have feelings and respond to the feelings of the people and animals around them. Using a polygraph they register the response of the plants to care or abuse. They find that plants recognize individuals and respond to their feelings even when a person is far away from the plant. The scientific community po-po the experiments but it brought up very interesting results. Watch amazing experiments about plant sensitivities below. Well worth watching the whole movie.

Give the environment around you some attention, love and…pee. No, not a typo of ‘peace’, I meant it -pee. Yes, that’s right, your pee is special. It has much needed nitrogen, vitamins and minerals that plants really like. What do you think is in that fertilizer you buy – poop. Maybe not yours but might as well be. If our poop is a little close for comfort, try just peeing on the earth. It’s generous. its life affirming. it’s freeing, and it’s is sterile. When you work in your garden, or just some random tree in the park, give it a little of yourself – pee on it.

For those who like to really push the envelope, you can pee in a bucket, add half water and put it on your garden. Not like right on your lettuce but zucchinis love it when they start to get tired late in the season. You can keep them going with a little dose of the ol’ yella.

Raspberries thrive with pee – nice and acid. Careful with too much in one spot. The salts can add up in time and create a dead spot in your yard.

It’s best to dose your garden before you plant. Yeah, it smells, but squirt a little water and it’s all flushed down into the soil and not the sewer. The waterways hate it but the earth loves it.

You don’t have to sign petitions or send money or protest or exert a lot of energy for this revolution. All you have to do is be aware, care and pull down your pants to bare your derrière. Get close to the land - pee all over it and let the wild flowers accentuate your yard to bring back the bugs. Help the land (not the water) around you become greener. Talk to the plants or at least acknowledge them. If we are kind to the plants and bugs in our environment we will see that it makes the world a better place- one leaf or wing at a time.