We have been fighting Monsanto for 20 years

By Clive Blazey, Founder of The Diggers Club.

The weakening of Monsanto, from the court case proving Roundup is carcinogenic, seems like another Rachel Carson moment. In the 1960s, Carson alerted everyone to the huge environmental consequences of DDT (yes, another Monsanto chemical), in her book Silent Spring, which became instrumental in its eventual ban.

Our gardens are organically-certified

Diggers has not used Roundup or nasty pesticides for over 20 years. We have no pest problems because we grow a huge range of plants and never grow any crops as a monoculture. Our soils are organic, made from recycling our waste into compost. Our good pests keep the bad pests at bay, which can never happen on modern farms because they use so much pesticide. Biodiversity is our fail-safe mechanism against pest attack. Our heirlooms have adapted to insect attack over hundreds of years. Gardening is the best training for understanding ‘our environment’. We build our knowledge … patiently … by learning from nature. We understand photosynthesis and how a massive 100-tonne tree is mostly made of gaseous carbon that comes from the air and water to generate mass.

The future is gardening

Organic agriculture and a vegan diet are attractive solutions to climate change. Accepting 50°C summer days from our coal-focused leaders will make the planet uninhabitable, so getting on board with the target of limiting the average rise to 1.5°C seems inevitable. Planting more trees and growing more of our own food are essential solutions.

I am excited about the future of Diggers. We are now entering our fifth decade and I can see great opportunities ahead, by being focused on what we do best … gardening. Gardening has the solutions to our most urgent problems. You see, gardeners have the longest life expectancy of any occupation. We connect to the soil, breathe in fresh air and, being gardeners, we connect with the birds, the bees, and the trees. We are in harmony with nature, rather than fighting it like all those miners, politicians and corporates who want to control nature. Gardening is the best training for building character.