Felder Rushing
Who rides the roads with a garden in his truck? Baby it’s the Gestalt Man. Who stows the hoes and vows never to mow? Baby it’s the Gestalt Man.
Voted one of the top 25 people most likely to change the South, Gestalt Gardener Felder Rushing will make us laugh so hard we cry, and assures us that if we can grow mold in a coffee cup, we can garden. Be it a pocket terrarium in a translucent film canister, a window box, a massive lawn or his own truck-bed-garden, Intelligent Optimist Felder Rushing shares bottom-line how to succeed in gardening without really trying. He maintains his Radio Garden in just 15 minutes a week, and has no need for chemicals because of the healthy mix of edible and traditional landscape plants in a rich tapestry described by his own mama as a kaleidoscope having a stroke.
Who steals the show and puts us in the know? Baby it’s the Gestalt Man!
He confesses to the funniest of garden mistakes, such as using pond water to water (pee-yew!). And that’s just the thing about Felder - he may love his spray paint garden cover-ups, but when push comes to shove, you can count on some worthy shoves, and no pointless pushes. He opposed stifling and misguided landscape ordinances in order to protect the diversity of his own Fondren community in Jackson, Mississippi because, as he put it, “It's not a no-holds-barred place, just a "let yourself be yourself" kind of community. I wouldn't live any other way.” He even figures that if you wear lipstick or pluck stray ear hairs, you’ve got no standing to worry about this little Piggy’s garden. Well, we have heard this piggy and he is us!
One of Felder’s gifts is the ability to keep it simple - no pedantic rants, just the facts: on mindful gardening for people and wildlife: “Its about us, its about them; its all connected!”, or as fungi aficionados say, its all relatives. And speaking of fungi, not only does he share that they are the fruiting bodies, the flowers of a happy fungus which has already been doing important work, but even to think of it as a happy dance. In fact mycelium are mushroom roots which turn woodchips into soil and even help hold the soil. He distills the wisdom of his vast horticultural experiences into all we need to know: wide hole, loosen the roots, green side up, and mulch. Native plants and rain gardens are a great way to manage stormwater.
Quick to remind folks to give hugs, the Gestalt Gardener promotes fun family learning activities including opportunities to participate in citizen-science projects such as rain gauges (cocorahs.org), and National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Habitat Gardens - and he’s not just a promoter - he has been certified himself. Is it any wonder his Mississippi Public Broadcasting radio show has the greatest listener support for a locally produced program? Let it Grow!
Mississippi Greening: Old Fashioned Eco-Gardening Reduces Garden Carbon Footprint
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