GOT TO PICK YOU, NOT USE A KNIFE

(Music: GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE, Lennon-McCartney) (info./disclaimers [0]) (glossary [0]) (index [0]) (gardening guide [0])

I was alone, I took a walk
I didn't know what I would find there
Another plant that might be good
As food or medicine -- free wild fare

Ooo, then I got this strange feeling
Ooo, and some voice kept repeating
Harvesting is sacred, not a chore

You didn't run, you didn't hide
You knew I wanted just to hold you
Until I'd looked and knew for sure
That there were many more just like you

Ooo, then I sensed you were near me
Ooo, and I wanted you to hear me
I knew what ol' Tom Ward would surely say

Got to pick you, not use a knife

What can I do, now that I see
I'm with you in a bounteous stand here
Brothers and sisters all around
They can afford to have you leave here

Ooo, then I suddenly hear you
Ooo, Tom Ward said I should heed you
Asking me to put away my knife

Got to pick you, not use a knife

I got to pick you, not use a knife

I was alone with your insides
I felt the tissues' vital force there
It didn't want a metal cut
Instead it wanted loving hand-tear

What's left heals more quickly
What's harvested's more healthy
Hands-on helps us pray ...

Comments: Tom Ward, an herbalist, wildcrafter, Permaculture instructor, and appropriate-living guru, was one of the Beetless' earliest inspirations and also one of their earliest fans. His book Greenward, Ho! explains his preferred method of harvesting: gripping the desired plant part firmly between thumb and forefinger, and using the action of the third finger to remove it from the parent plant.