One thing most religions seem to agree on lately is that we have to do a better job at taking care of our environment.  Whether you believe that God made the Earth or that it evolved through natural processes (or both, or something else), it’s up to us to take care of it and our natural resources.

I love to garden–even when I hate to garden (you gardeners know what I mean). For me, weeding is meditation and therapy, and caring for plants gives me a sense of connection to all life.

Two things I have done this year to make my gardening more environmentally sound is to get a couple rain barrels, so that this week I’m watering my plants using water from last week’s deluge, and to plant more edibles, especially those that come back each year.

This month I have been enjoying eccentric but delicious backyard salads of mint, chives, sorrel, basil, purslane, and daylilies.  (Basil is an annual but grows like crazy.)  Purslane and daylilies are probably growing in your yard right now–yes, they are edible and they have a light, fresh taste (unlike, say, dandelion leaves, which are usually bitter). Make sure you’ve correctly identified any weed before you eat it, of course–the Botanical Gardens can help.

Every bit of food you can grow or forage around your house saves the energy that would’ve been spent trucking foods to the store and your driving to get them; plus it’s fresher, healthier, and cheaper.  In this recession, try doing yourself and the planet a favor and replace those impatiens with some edibles.  And try weeding as a spiritual practice.  Really.