| 園藝大師賦予高爾夫球場新生命
作者：Lisa Jones 12.07.99
在一個世界中充斥著環境與經濟上的恐怖事件時，高爾夫球場總讓人覺得非常礙眼。好吧，也許它並不像Prince
William Sound的漏油事件、Cuyahoga River在爆炸後所引起的大火，或是斯里蘭卡珊瑚礁的白化、死亡那樣糟糕。
邪惡綠怪(傳統的高爾夫球場)
但是，隨著鄉村逐漸市郊化，高爾夫球場迅速地增加，卻也令人不由得為之悚然。原本是動植物的棲息地及農田的土地被無生產力的光滑高爾夫球道所取代。更多的綠地因為有錢人而遭到毒手，原本是動植物賴以生存的地方，變成讓有錢人用小車載著球具環繞追逐著一顆如恐龍大腦一般大小的白色小球的場所。對高爾夫球最尖銳的批評者會如此描述倒也並非全無道理。
但是，我去過一個很不錯的高爾夫球場，位於North Ferrisburgh, Vt。擁有它的是68歲的Dick Raymond，全身充滿活力，並擁有數量驚人的園藝著作。他賣出了超過2百萬本關於植物園藝的書籍，並巡迴全世界舉辦演講。雖然他並不純用自然有機方式，但是他服膺一些簡單的信條，例如以種下更多的草坪種子與割草來對抗草坪上的野草。他重新定義了「寬排種植法」(wide row method)。這個方法，讓種植在寬排間的大量植物種子產生雙重利益，不但遮蔽光線使野草無法生長，並且減少水分蒸發。
Raymond對著鏡頭微笑照片由Lisa Jones拍攝
有一天早晨，他在與妻子Jan同住50年的屋子裡說：「我並不是純粹主義者，但是我對那高爾夫球場則抱持著一種信念。我只採用清潔劑（Ivory liquid）[註]澆在野草上，有時用醋。這並不需要費心照顧，而且全然地環保。到這個高爾夫球場來的人們，都很討厭化學藥物。他們喜歡這裡，因為他們知道這裡是安全的。」
高爾夫球場在屋子前伸展開來。看起來綠意盎然，並且充滿水分。今年是個多雨的秋天，這球場也位於會淹水的平地。但這些並沒有困擾Dick，他說：「每年都會有1/16到1/32吋的淤泥覆蓋到表土層，這全都是肥沃的表土，我甚至不需要使用肥料。這些肥料從上游流下來，在那裡有些地方有4呎厚的表土，這是再循環的極致。」
這個高爾夫球場有9個洞。其中有4個洞的標準桿數為4桿，其它的為3桿，總數為31桿。
Dick說：「在全世界，只有15%的高爾夫球玩家，能以低於100桿打完18洞。至於其他的85%呢？難道這些人希望被看成如鼠輩在一片綠地上顛簸行進嗎？他們只是想要得到樂趣罷了！高爾夫球是一個社交性活動。我們需要更多可負擔的家庭式娛樂。如果我們無法提供一些戶外的健康家庭式娛樂給大眾，那我們是在做什麼呢？金錢並不是一切。在這裡，打9個洞只要美金8元而已，這不是要賺錢的事業。我曾參加一個13人的團體，其中只有4個人玩高爾夫球，有一個還在坐嬰兒車。現在他4歲了，他不但到這裡來，而且可以自己打球了！」
Raymond了解那種活力。「我已經快70歲了，我仍能一步二格的爬樓梯，」他說。「我得到很多樂趣，這是一個辛苦的搏鬥，但是很有樂趣。」
Lisa Jones是一位住在科羅拉多西方的環境作家。她的作品出現在High Country 新聞、the Christian Science Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, 以及前Buzzworm雜誌
版權歸屬Earth Day Network，環境信託協會 (黃曉菊 譯，高正忠、李欣哲審校)
網址：http://www.gristmagazine.com/
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A gardening guru gives new meaning to a golfing green
by Lisa Jones 12.07.99
In a world beset with environmental and economic horrors, a golf course is a disturbing sight. Okay, it's not as disturbing as an oil slick on Prince William Sound, or the Cuyahoga River bursting into flames, or the coral reefs off Sri Lanka bleaching and dying.
Evil green monster (a traditional golf course).
But the proliferation of golf courses is symptomatic of the suburbanization of once-rural places, which is disturbing in its own creepy way. Golf courses replace habitat or farmland with sterile, carpet-smooth fairways. They cloister off yet more land for the wealthy. Instead of supporting plants or animals, they support rich guys tooling around in little carts, each chasing a tiny white ball the size of a dinosaur's brain, which the game's most vitriolic critics would point out is not entirely a coincidence.
But I have been to a golf course, and it was good. It was in North Ferrisburgh, Vt. It belongs to Dick Raymond, a 68-year-old with a frightening amount of energy and a gardening resume that would stun an ox. He has sold more than 2 million books on vegetable gardening, and has lectured all over the world. Although he's not strictly organic, he subscribes to such simple beliefs as combating lawn weeds by planting more grass seed and mowing the lawn. He refined the "wide row method," in which lots of vegetable seeds planted in wide rows yield the dual benefits of shading out weeds and reducing evaporation.
Raymond smiles for the camera.Photo by Lisa Jones.
"I'm not a purist in general," he says one morning in the house he shares with his wife of 50 years, Jan. "But I'm a purist on that golf course. All I ever use is Ivory liquid and occasionally vinegar on the weeds. It's low maintenance, totally environmentally sound. People come to golf here who are allergic to chemicals. They love it because they know it's safe."
The golf course spreads out in front of the house. It looks green and soggy. It's been a wet fall, and the course is in a flood plain. This bothers Dick not one bit. "One-sixtieth to one-thirty-second inch of silt per year comes down on the topsoil. It's all topsoil. I don't even need to use fertilizer," he says. "The fertilizer comes in from upstream. Some places in there that's four feet of topsoil. It's the ultimate recycling."
The golf course has nine holes. Four of the holes are par four and the rest are par three, which makes a par 31 course.
"Only 15 percent of golfers in the world break 100 on 18 holes," says Dick. "What about the other 85 percent? Do they give a rat's bum about bumps on a green? They want to have fun! Golf is a social game. We need more affordable, family-style recreation. If we can't provide some outdoor, healthy, family recreation to our community, what are we doing? Money isn't everything. It costs $8 for nine holes. It's not a money-making thing. I've had as many as 13 people in a group with only four people playing. One was in a stroller. Now he's four and he comes here and hits the ball himself!"
Raymond knows about that kind of vigor. "I'm nearly 70, and I still go two steps apiece up the stairs," he says. "I've had a lot of fun. It's been an uphill battle, but it's been a fun one."
Lisa Jones is an environmental writer living in western Colorado. Her work has appeared in High Country News, the Christian Science Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the former Buzzworm magazine.
c 2000, Earth Day Network. All rights reserved.
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