Tuesday 18 October 2011

Affordances Part 2

In this entry I will look at two more of the affordance’s that are prominent in my activity; they are ethics and communications.
Hagedorn (2000) states that ‘touch is one of the first means of communications which humans experience, and it remains deeply significant throughout life’. This is so true, as I stated in my first entry I started garden when at the age of 12 and this form of communication with the land has stayed with me all this time and I should image until my last days on this earth. Gardening is a very tactile way to communicate, one that gets over looked I think, on reflection I realise that I do this type of communication when I do my occupation with mindfulness. Communication is with the friends that I scrounge plants from to the people at the garden centres where I get the fertiliser and dear I say the garden itself as I work in and around it. Communication can be limited when working alone – hence way I talk to the plants!
The ethics in this setting is looking very sampling at the good and the bad, the burden and joys. The burden of gardening has to be working outside in the cold keeping the section tidy, the cost of equipment, plants and the on-going cost of mulch, fertiliser etc, and the outlay of physical effort.
The joy is seeing healthy plants and lovely flowers, not too much scent in my garden due to hay fever, the sense on completion, having created something wonderful for me to look at with a sense of pride and having people comment on how the garden is coming on.

Interesting how gardening is both a burden and joy, for if I don’t work on it in regular bouts it then becomes a massive job, either way I enjoy working in the garden.

4 comments:

  1. Very interesting that you mention that working alone in the garden makes you tend to end up talking to your plants. Out of interest, I 'googled' this idea and was surprised to find that even royalty like Prince Charles of England totally believes in this. He has shared that he always makes it a habit to talk to his plants to help them prosper in terms of their growth. Scientific research has actually proved that you and the Prince are doing something that helps plant growth and prosperity. Apparently, plants can talk to each other too (non-verbal communication). I guess when you are tending to your plants it is also non-verbal communication.
    I would love to see your garden (would have loved to see a photo of it on this posting) and get a few good ideas on starting mine.

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  2. Thank you Godhelp, I have uploaded photos today.
    I was aware that Prince Charles talks to his plants, I do feel a bit nutty sometimes as communication with the plants can be verbal for me, especially when I'm frustrated

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  3. Hi Heather,

    It is astounding on the rewards and benefits of gardening and getting back to nature. Not only do we rely on plants for production of the air we breathe but also the pleaasure it gives us to be active and reap the fruits of our labour. I think you have captured the essence of what it means to you personally to be in your little magic garden.....

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  4. Thanks Lisa,
    It was quite hard to keep to the 300 words, as you rightly pointed out the benefits and rewards are numerous and change with each day I venture into the garden for activity.

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