Dahlia gardens—where is this going?
Creating culture
This project is superficially about dahlias and city beautification, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
Dahlias are particularly inspiring because of their beauty, but it doesn't have to be dahlias. Almost anything will do. Replace lawns and office-park landscaping with something more productive: fruit, herbs, vegetables and flowers—plants and shrubs that are friendly to birds, butterflies and other critters. Gardening connects us to some of the most ancient traditions of human civilization.
Feeling the earth is more important than most people realize. In this urbanized, industrialized age, we've lost touch with what is under our feet. The result is that people are no longer capable of proper stewardship. We've lost the knowledge. Growing organic dahlias begins to restore that knowledge and that earth-centric perspective.
We live in private bunkers, isolated, anonymous, disconnected. A community gardening project draws people out and into the "garden zone", creating common ground that transcends parties and ideologies. It brings people together in a way that other shared interests do not—enhancing the geographic aspect of community.
The insecurity of the global market must be eliminated when it comes to food staples. Each nation, each city and state, each community should be able to feed itself with locally produced food. Southeast Iowa has more than enough growing capacity. Flowers too should not be shipped thousands of miles. Not during the spring and summer at least. Farm-to-table, farm-to-vase.
We've somehow grown accustomed to an aloof, impersonal, reactive government. The average person has no role to play in a world that operates by mechanisms far beyond his or her control. Even in a small town like Fairfield, the goings-on at the city and county chambers have little to do with our individual lives. Our representatives, our leaders, are strangers. We need to make politics personal again. Connect with our neighbors. Find ways to cooperate for the benefit of all. Don't leave it to the government to do everything for us. This is the new paradigm. People taking responsibility for their own little piece of the planet.
Imagine a city carpeted with flower gardens. Every lot, every yard, every street, adorned with natural beauty, improving the quality of life for residents and attracting the classiest, most enlightened to visit and make their homes here. City planning must emphasize a softer, greener environment -- a refined atmosphere. Favoring meadows and orchards over pavement and asphalt. Favoring natural green space over strip malls and parking lots. Let's get people out of their cars and walking again. Priortize pedestrian traffic and discourage vehicle traffic. It's a matter of health. Studies have shown that the greener the city, the healthier people are (see the links below).
Links