ECOLOGY
“But what about Himalayan Blackberry?”
Making holistic, place-based, process-aware choices
When Nikki Hill and I talk to people about our critique of the “invasive plant” narrative, a common response is, “But what about [fill-in-the-blank “invasive plant” they personally love to hate]?”
The misconception seems to be that, since we are arguing against judging plants solely by their place of origin, then we must be advocating for a hands-off approach across the board. Such is the current state of our culture that every single topic must be divided into for vs. against, us vs. them, my team vs. your team. I would not be surprised if the word “nuance” is soon dropped from the dictionary for becoming anachronistic. <sigh>
Nikki and I have both farmed and gardened in many different places, and we know that just about every spot under cultivation has at least one weed species that is especially tenacious. It might be bindweed, or runner grass, or thistle. Or Himalayan Blackberry. We understand the frustration that can arise from trying to extricate something that’s well established or widespread when what you want is carrots.
However, the plants themselves are not preternaturally evil or something. Everything is always context dependent.