Sunday, June 21, 2009

I have a dirty little secret ...


Yesterday we went to a birthday party. Friends and neighbors gathered to celebrate Nina Bee’s first year of life. Small talk was inevitable as not all attendants were intimately acquainted.  As I refilled my wine I became privy to one of these space-filling conversations; an enticing discussion about clover.  Enjoying my fly-on-the-wall status I feigned activity and listened in. 

“Well,” said one person, “ the clover in this neighborhood is really the fault of so and so up the street.  She’s all organic.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  But her grass is full of clover and now it’s migrated to our yard.”

“Oh that’s terrible” said another, “no one wants a yard full of clover.”  They went on to discuss the various merits of herbicides used to eradicate this evil invader from their lawns. 

I quietly slipped away.  You see our yard is blanketed in clover.  Initially we were going to eliminate it as removal seemed the neighborly thing to do.   But then we read the ingredient list on the herbicide bottle.  We quickly decided we’d rather have clover than odd growths on our children or an eight-eyed school of fish downstream.  And so we went against the first suburban commandment and simply let the clover be.  

And here’s my dirty little secret ... I like the clover.  

It’s green. It doesn’t die off when the dogs pee on it. Were it not for clover our lawn would be entirely yellow/brown (I’m not joking).  Instead our lawn is peppered with little white flowers that attracts bees.  These bees, though they come with stingers, are good for environment.  Shoes are a good idea when playing on our “grass”. It’s a fair trade; shoes for environmental friendliness. 

When the kids are bored I can send them out to search for four leaf clovers. I’m willing to bet families with “perfect” lawns can’t get their kids to go out and pick through the grass as a form of entertainment.  Besides these kids would probably contract some sort of mutagentic disease if they were to do so.  

And there you have it.  Perhaps I’m lazy.  Perhaps I’m a hippie.  Perhaps I’m the dredge of the neighborhood.  Or, perhaps, I’m all three.  What I do know is I like fish with two eyes, children without growths and my blanket of clover.    

20 comments:

Alicia said...

Yes! I feel the same way about our large dandelion population. I think the splash of yellow color is actually pretty. More importantly, I refuse to spray chemicals all over my yard just to get rid of them. I may try the corn gluten treatment but that's it.

We bought this house 2 years ago and the dandelions were already here. But some neighbors still hate me for them and have even called the police when my yard was too long. I got a notice of abatement letter! Nice....I guess I should mow twice a week and spray my entire yard the next time I see one single weed like them.

I do have an awesome passively-aggressive response to them when asked why I don't spray. I say, "Well, I think it's all the chemicals like this in the environment that contributed to my cancer." Said in my sweetest voice, it shuts down their hassling. :)

Gayle said...

I'm with you! I didn't know that clover was frowned upon. If it wasn't for clover, dandelions and crab grass we wouldn't have much green on our lawn!

ELK said...

oh my you.... you ....clover lover! tee hee I won't tell!

Anonymous said...

oh i have this same dirty little secret. honestly, our yard is mostly weeds and clover. but its green. that counts for something right?

:)

Sarah said...

For a moment, I thought they were talking about us and our lawn...never even giving a thought, gosh, that's what my neighbors have been talking about! You crack me us...I laughed so hard and felt off the bed reading it to hubby :0)

THANK YOU again for everything you've done for our Tyson. He just got the stitches removed and it's healing great.

Jamie said...

Good for you! They should be embarassed for spraying that yucky stuff. I like the clover too.

Sus said...

Another lazy hippie! Welcome to the club! :) Thanks for the comment at my place. Our yard is covered with clover, too! Perhaps some kind of scat would help that too. :)

Nice to meet you.

vickie said...

I am SOOO with you sister! I've been praying that my clover would spread faster, further, and all throughout for all the reasons you mention! rock on.

Nature knows best

Jennifer said...

Great post...and I totally agree. Our backyard is covered in wild violets. I'm always sad after my husband mows and the little purple flowers go away...but then they always come back and I'm happy again.

Michelle O'Neil said...

Great post, and thank you for reminding me of another reason we no longer live in the burbs.

Get a real problem, right?

Amy said...

Screw the neighbors. Oh, sorry - that's not very neighborly of me.

Kathleen said...

I'm with you! We don't have a yard, but we head to the park every day to search for 4-leaf clovers and make clover necklaces. Once you know what it takes, "perfect" grass is kind of creepy, isn't it?

SE'LAH... said...

LOL...I love your wit. I am with you...organic is best.

the Lady said...

Jeez louise. I didn't even know people had a problem with clover! Goats love it, especially the wild stuff with big purple flowers.

the Lady said...

And yes, these people need a real problem.

tifanie said...

well done! we tore out our lawn and put in dymondia so we could water it lots less (and for many other reasons, anti-lawn related), but what a beautiful story this is. i can totally relate. take care *

Niki Jolene said...

Love it!

Live on, clover!

:)

Joy! said...

I'm aghast that clover is considered a weed. I used to have clover, and the true weeds overgrew it. I'm thinking of sneaking some off the public berm to transplant into my yard!

Red House Gal said...

I'm sad that THIS conversation happened at my home. Hmmm...I fear that maybe our feelings are not represented by our friends and neighbors. Truth of the matter is ...WE HAVE CLOVER at our house. And if you really want to be rid of it, you can use vinegar instead of yucky pesticides, but we're both too lazy for that. So...don't listen to the neighbors and come take your shoes off and smell our clover anytime...there may be a waft of chicken goodness too! AAhhh! I am atrue hippie at heart, no matter how callous and ignorant my neighbors are :) Sorry!

Shalet said...

@ Red House Gal - Long live clover and chickens and worm bins! You know we love you no matter what company you keep!