LEARNING FROM THE PAST

In this time of supply-chain and climate worries, we can find solutions - and solace - in ancient knowledge

AS I WRITE THIS, we're facing serious fertilizer shortages, according to many and various news outlets. Because of the war in Ukraine, a large portion of the world's exported fertilizer seems to be stuck in Russia and Belarus. Even before the invasion, China had announced restrictions on exports of phosphate- and urea-based fertilizers. And all this is on top of compromised supply chains resulting from years of pandemic.

Every time I read another article about how gardeners and farmers will be made miserable by these fertilizer shortages, I'm reminded of a challenge I faced two years ago in one of the gardens where I work. A big part of my job as a horticultural therapist at a residential mental-health rehabilitation center is to design, install and maintain therapeutic gardens for the benefit of clients and staff. Two dry summers ago, the sprinkler system in one of the therapeutic gardens failed while the facilities manager was out on medical leave.

I had to figure out a way to get water to the plants in that garden. After allowing myself some handwringing, I began to think about how indigenous people in the southwestern United States had grown food for millennia despite very little rainfall and very dry summers. A little research turned up so much native intelligence on the topic that I found myself with the happy problem of choosing which techniques to try.

I ended up using a three-pronged approach: