To restore balance to our planet we must first understand what it is we are restoring. We cannot hope to restore degraded landscapes without understanding the root of our problems.

Let’s do a short exercise to illustrate.

Go outside and find the nearest plant. Can you name it? If you can, what about the next 5 plants surrounding it? Do you know their uses, or their role in the ecosystem? Can you name what part of the world they originated from?

Are you stumped? The purpose of this exercise wasn’t to make you feel inadequate, but instead highlight a symptom of our contemporary society.

Plant blindness, a term coined in the late 90’s by US botanists Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee. Symptoms of plant blindness include (but are not limited to), an inability to identify plants or differentiate between them, and failing to see the importance of plants in our daily lives.

To restore our planet and reconnect with nature we must first understand the basis of all terrestrial life; that is, we must become familiar with the plants that surround our community. By doing so we are able to gain a deeper understanding of the natural world, bridging the gap between humans and nature.

Think about it.

We want to change the world around us but we can’t name our surroundings. We want to feel a sense of community, yet we don’t know our neighbors.

Homegrown Society wants to make your local environment more accessible by providing simple and engaging information on the natural world. We want to empower people to make connections with the land, so that we can start building healthier relationships with our local ecosystems.