On the small scale, and especially in temperate climates, the idea is to learn to see and accept weeds as a HELPFUL and NECESSARY force in Nature. In your suburban garden, next to mulching with brought-in straw, allow weeds to grow; water them and LOVE them. (Mulch in the form of tanbark makes the soil acidic.) When the (herbaceous) weeds have fully grown and AFTER they have seeded, cut them off at groundlevel, placing the plantmatter that grew above ground in three dimensions onto the two dimensions of the soilsurface, so providing ABUNDANCE of FIBRE and MULCH, delivering its by now well-known benefits; the roots of the weeds will decay in situ, in the very place they grew and so fertilize the subsoil; once these PLANTS have done their job, by a basic process of saturation, they will not come back as frequently as when they are NOT allowed to do their job as “ordained by evolution”. This is further described in my essay, mentioned in above published summary “Karma in Nature”.

Further, as to how to deal with weeds and land, especially with reference to broadacre farming, may I recommend you take another look at the last paragraph of the above published summary (“Karma in Nature”), as well maybe at the book: “The One Straw Revolution” by Japanese farmer and microbiologist Masanobu Fukuoka, who in his very fascinating, stimulating and inspiring text describes many of the secrets of Nature.

May I wish you a Joyful Christmas and a Blessed and Prosperous New Year.

This is a very insightful and respectful article that asks us, as stewards of this Creation, to shift our paradigm and think differently about nature, including what we label as “weeds”. As you allude to it, the reason we use the terms weeds is that these forms of vegetation are not seen as economically productive. If someone found a way to generate income from weeds, they would cease to be labeled as weeds, I am sure.

Oyvind, I’m not so sure. I fully understand the problems with GE plants (and believe that all such technology should stop now). But once one of these plant species has naturalised, what are our ethical and karmic responsibilities? Do we hate the GE plants instead of loving them? How does that affect our relationship with the rest of nature? And if we can hate GE plants, why not other plants that we deem ‘bad’. Pines, willows, gorse, brooms, nettles are all plants where I live that would never have been here were it not for human ignorance and technology. I’m sure the time will come when permies are saying we need to work with GE escapees in the same way we work with other introduced naturalised plants i.e. look at how they work in the landscape rather than demonising them.