About Dana Gardens
Planet, Community, Family
Welcome to the blog :) Let's get to know one another.
My answer? "There is no Dana, only Zuul."
Okay, sorry. Ghostbusters joke. Dāna is the first parami in Theravada Buddhism and the first paramita in Mahayana Buddhism. It means "generosity", but the meaning is so much deeper than our English word. It encompasses gift-giving, generosity, almsgiving, liberality, and more. Dāna comes in three flavors:
- Giving physical gifts, like food, shelter, medicine, or clothing
- Giving fearlessness
- Giving knowledge/teaching of the Dhamma
It seems like a fitting name for this endeavor. The hope is that the garden will achieve dāna in all three ways, at least over time.
How Does Dāna Fit into This?
The garden is based on the idea of giving generously. The focus is on native plants to give pollinators and other wildlife the food and habitat they need to live. There's also a mini food forest planted that will yield far more fruit than we could eat or preserve, and all the excess will be given to the community. With food and support, we can live with less fear and anxiety. That applies to all sentient beings, not just humans.
Sounds Nice, But What about the Dhamma?
Another part of the plan is to incorporate a walking meditation path through the food forest and gardens, along with elements that teach the Dhamma in creative, interesting ways.
What's the Garden All About?
The idea is to create a natural space based on three guidelines:
1. Plant for more than humans.
This is based on the old rule of thirds - plant three times more than you need, one-third for wildlife, one-third for the community, and one-third for you. It's also in response to the dramatic decline in insects and other wildlife due to massive habitat loss. By planting for more than humans and for more than our family's needs, we can contribute to the health of the community and the planet as a whole.
2. Plant mostly natives.
Native plants are better for any area. Local pollinators evolved in tandem with native plants and they're fine-tuned to find and feed on them. Some native insects can ONLY feed on native plants. Exotics may be pretty, but they often don't provide enough nectar or pollen for native pollinators, habitat for local wildlife, or support for the local ecosystem. Even if they do provide ample food, local insects often don't recognize them and, so, pass them by, starving at the buffet line, as it were.
To be fair, Dāna does have non-native plants, mostly fruit trees. Those are for the community and the family.
3. No invasives.
Invasive species are terrible. They're like cancer, eating away at ecosystems, outcompeting natives, and giving nothing back to pollinators and other wildlife. The vast majority of invasives were introduced by humans because they were pretty or produced food. Quite a few snuck in via shipping containers. We don't do invasives at all, no matter what the argument might be in favor of having them. If they're on the invasive species list, they're not in the garden. We're talking about things like tropical milkweed, mimosa trees, butterfly bushes, and more. Not sure what's invasive where you live? Check your state's invasive species list, then look in your yard, and rip out anything that's on the list.
Stay tuned for updates and whatnot here, too.
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