Harrisburg, PA 54.0F

Oct 2, 201203:28 PMHome & Garden

Bob Carey, D.B. Frank and All Things Home

Sex and Drugs in the Community Garden

The unfortunate commotion about the Community Garden on 6th Street in Harrisburg has brought up the allegations of sex and drugs.

I pass that garden with some regularity and have noted the general unkempt appearance of the space but find it interesting that it was sex and drugs that brought it to our attention.

Gardens have always been about sex, drugs, and yes, evil and human frailty.

Recall that it wasn't in the desrt or by the sea that Adam and Eve first got upside down with the law. Did God have an easement or was there a No Trespassing sign on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Maybe it was an oral bargain.

In any event, the landlord didn't call the cops or complain to city council. And did the landlord bulldoze Paradise? No. He just kicked the bums out.

It was a garden where the drama played out.

Besides providing food and fiber, the big money in the garden has always been to do with sex and drugs.

I give programs about plants to folks who sometimes aren't in love with plants as much as I am. I've discovered that I can attract a larger audience if I can talk about what plants are good for. I call it the "Show me the money" program.

Folks are interested in plants as food. When times get hard during the revolution, this plant will keep you alive.

Medicinal uses for plants resonate with lots of folks especially since we're all learning about useful compounds found in tropical forests. Herbal treatments appeal to more folks as alternatives to products from Big Pharma.

Herbalists, healers and shamans rely heavily on Nature's Pharmacopoeia. They like to have their medicinal plants near at hand; hence the development of medicinal gardens.

I heighten the cachet of medicinal plants by reminding folks that any plant powerful enough to help you is powerful enough to hurt you.

To get to those folks having a private conversation during my presentation to listen up, I go for SEX. I see the eyes of even the most polite audience dilate when I talk of plants and sex.

Every culture through human history has found a bunch of plants that are purported to have some efficacy in the sex department.

Some plants facilitate fertility. Some fan the flames of desire (these are usually narcotic in nature and belong in the medicinal category). And due to the myriad of advertisements for male enhancements, plants that boost performance are the most interesting to audiences.

As a guy who talks to folks about plants a lot, I challenge you to find a topic or interest that doesn't have a plant connection. Sex, drugs and rock n roll included.

It may be stretching the point; but only a little. I wasn't all that surprised about what's going on around those gardens. It's been going on forever.

And whatever was going on, you can't escape the fact that it was happening in the garden.
 

 

~ Bob