Nature's Little Miracles...Or It's Grand Design

    I trust everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Last night as I was rumbling around the house trying to find a comfortable position, having gorged myself to unnatural proportions with a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, I began to focus on a television program broadcasting over an unattended television.  The Discovery Channel was airing a program about wild turkeys in nature.  Gradually, I migrated to a reclining position and began to watch with intense interest, losing focus to my discomfort and absorbing information in stuffed bliss.

    The program went on to describe the hatching of baby turkeys in the spring, their ability to walk at birth, their natural "woodsy" camouflage coloration, their flight at two weeks of age, etc.  There was some brief explanation as to why these turkeys have such characteristics, but little mention as to how things had come to pass.  These little guys had adapted to their conditions.  Regardless of where we stand on the origins of life, it is clear that adaptation has occurred since the beginning of time.

    The turkeys are hatched in the spring because insects are readily available as a food source.  Insects are high in protein, which is needed for development of muscle tissue during growth.  For years I have sold feed for domesticated turkeys with growth formulas for the young having a much greater protein content than the maintenance formulas for adult turkeys.  In the fall the insects diminish, leaving lower level protein materials of the plant world as a maintenance diet.  Thus the term "spring chicken".

    The turkeys' agility and protective coloration help protect them from natural predators.  The predators become more active in the spring when the food sources such as baby turkeys are more plentiful.  After all, red tailed hawks have to eat as well.  If not for predators, we would not be able to wade through all of the wild turkeys in the world.  All of these organisms have their own optimum time table for the greatest chance of survival.

    To make a long story short, all of the pink turkeys hatched in the fall have probably starved to death or have been consumed by a predator.  Consequently, young pink turkeys in September are very hard to find.

    How does all of this apply to the gardener?  Some things in nature are left to chance.  Maybe one turkey turned right and went to Florida and the other turned left and went to Maine.  Ultimately, they would have different characteristics.  By and large, things adapt to their environment.  A flower may be strictly red because pollinating insects were most attracted to red, leaving the unpollinated blue flowers of the species destined to extinction for lack of pollination.

    Things in nature may seem random, but all creatures actually live in a very delicate balance within a carefully designed system.  Everything happens for a reason.  The gardener needs to care for the system and respect its fragile state.  Over use of pesticides can radically alter things and the use of plants not well adapted to your climate may be an act of futility.

    Now that winter has arrived, I will be searching of subject matter in this dormant season.  This week's column is evidence of this fact.  Spend the winter watching the marvels of nature.  If you are paying attention, you will find the dead of winter to be as busy as the flourish of spring.  By the way, I feel much better today...