Grass Clippings

Lessons from Nature #4

One of the limited perks I hold on to is that great friends have taken upon themselves to include my yard with the church yard on mowing, trimming and leaf removal. But it is less a perk and more of a protection of the actual yard – for I am great at killing lawns and damaging grass.

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Thinking back, when I did care for the 1/2 acre lot of my rental abode during my postgrad studies, I had three summers of grass cutting. And in those three summers, I caught three lawn mowers on fire. Three. My landlord finally said, “Thank you,” when I no longer did the yard work. If I was a pantheist, I would say the gods of yard work had me in their sights and cursed me. Maybe, it was Demeter – the Greek god of the harvest and grain.

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So, back to present. Every week these days, those in the rotation come out with their own equipment and mow, edge, weed eat, and air blow the clippings off the sidewalk. My job … get my vehicles out of the way.

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Clippings.

Little pieces of grass that remains after the powerful machines cut down the grass blades to an acceptable height.

Clippings.

I started thinking (dangerous on any day). I started thinking of what positive, and negative, things can we do with ‘grass clippings’?

• There is the obvious … compost and lawn recycling. This adds back to the yard (or any growing area) and balances nitrogen and oxygen in the dirt.
  • Even in John 15, the fruitless branches that are pruned off, and are burned … which give warmth and light to the workers.
• Clippings can be made in to tea. Tea … recently I tried Hibiscus tea. Unfortunately, it’s health benefits do not out weigh the taste – yuck (at least to me!)
• Bedding for animals. A soft grass bed can do wonders for gerbils.
• Food for livestock. I mean, what do you think those rolls or bales of hay are that they give cattle and other livestock? Grass clippings.
• Line chicken coops.
• Create a soft pathway. This can give a softer feel to feet, but also help with drainage.
• Terracotta potted plants insulation.
• Hedge protection, basically mulch that helps prevent weeds.
• Lasagna Gardening. No, you don’t grow lasagna. The term “lasagna gardening” refers to a gardening technique for creating a raised bed by layering carbon and nitrogen-rich materials. 
• Insulation for gardening in winter.

Add the annoying part of nasty hitch-hiker clippings that grab on to our pants legs and shoes.

I love the fact that we can find usefulness in things we normally write off.

This brings comfort to me of I too often feel like leftover, worthy just for casting off. But God isn’t finished with me yet.