In the beginning there was a garden with natural water fountains. Creation’s garden. And life was good. All plants were natives. Food was pure and abundant. Predators and prey were in balance (which is not to say they were equal).
Then people got involved and introduced concrete fountains and many other things. They brought with them their urge for order and control, and a robust curiosity fed by experimentation. Soon, the earth was plowed into furrows and crops planted in rows. The best specimens were selected for breeding.
Yet even after farmers began growing food for whole communities, and pharmacists took responsibility for mass-producing medicine, people continued to tend gardens. For sustenance, yes, but also to create beauty, retain a connection to nature, and enjoy the simple pleasure of digging in dirt. Cast stone fountains were a way to carry water to the gardens.
For nearly… well…forever, gardeners and farmers grew plants using common sense, careful observation, and the resources nature provided. Today, we call that approach “organic.” But that term became necessary only to distinguish those time-tested tactics from...