A Theory Proven.

I've always thought that most of the chemicals used today were bad for you. I mean, seriously - if you have to wear a mask to apply the fertilizer, do you really want that going into your drinking water? And artificial hormones freak me out a little too, because if they're in the foods you eat, guess what? They're in you too, and that can't be good. Genetically modified organisms are less scary, but I still don't use them because I think the nutrients in regular food, especially heirlooms, is more readily absorbed by the body. I have no evidence to back this up, and I haven't really read anything about it, but it's what I believe.

But back to fertilizers.

My aunt used to live in the house we live in now. She planted tons of gorgeous perennials and trees and shrubs, and cared for them meticulously. She fertilized them regularly and applied the pesticides as needed, and the plants grew as you might suspect. Nothing amazing or spectacular, but they grew. Then my brother moved in here for a year, and he didn't do anything to them, and they all died.

Or so it seemed.

We moved in here in September 2006. The place was sorely neglected - not so much because my brother didn't care, but mostly because he was a teen father and had to spend his time doing other things. The first thing I did was start cutting down all the weeds and all the apparently dead perennials. Then winter came and I didn't do anything more outside, because duh. It's Michigan. 'Bout all you can do here in the winter is snowmobile and bitch about the cold, and I prefer the latter.

The next spring, I did nothing to the plants that were still here. They looked dead. The roses were dead, the bushes were dead. I had cut them all back in the fall so they weren't an eyesore or anything, they were just dead. My aunt wanted me to apply fertilizer, but I didn't. I only put it on the bushes and plants that were alive.

The following year, 2008, I once again did nothing. I didn't even fertilize the plants that I was living, because I was pregnant with The Babe and busy caring for Beastie, who was a little bitty baby. Last year I didn't even pull weeds around the house or anything. I was just too tired.

So that brings me to this year. A walk around my house suggests that all those "dead" plants were actually recuperating from all that fertilizer and pesticide, because they are all back and they are all stronger and more vigorous than ever. The "dead" rose bushes are huge and covered in gorgeous pink and red blooms. There's something growing next to my porch that I don't recognize, but it's waist high and has the most gorgeous dark pink, large-lobed flowers on it you've ever seen. There's something red blooming next to it. Out in the yard, the "dead" bamboo is growing bigger by the day, and the "dead" peach tree is covered in tiny green peaches.

In other words, my theory has been proven.

A plant - and, I think, a person - can grow when they're covered in chemicals. They can grow enough that you think all is well. But take those chemicals away, and allow the land - or the body - to detox, and the organism will grow to it's true potential.

Try it. See if it works for you. Cut out all the artificial colors and flavors and pesticides and herbicides in your food, and see how you feel. I bet you'll be surprised.