Historically, we knew how to work with the things the land naturally gave us - think of the plants some people refer to as weeds. Think of the wild edges. Think of nettles, dandelions, thistles. They are not the enemy, they grow equally well between the paving slabs of an urban environment, unwanted in the garden or in a hedgerow, they cover the ground, preventing it from scorching, they remineralise the earth as they die back and in terms of nettles especially, they even clear up our waste, slowly cleaning the soil of our pollutants.