I am not advocating for the use of herbal medicine nor for anarcho-primitivism.

Not exactly what you asked, but…

I think that in an anarchist society, much of the “medicine” mindset would fade away. An anarchist society would have no human supremacists, so people would not eat animals or use them for medical experiments. This alone would prevent a great deal of ill health. While certain drugs can be useful in emergency situations (like opium for pain relief during and after surgery), most if not all of these emergency “medicines” can be found in some form in the plant kingdom and do not require complex manufacturing processes. Modern medicine and “better living through chemistry” is really quite a recent concept, and the pharmaceuticals of today are no more necessary for health than anything that the snake oil salesmen were selling 200 years ago. The current medical industry is one of the largest and most profitable capitalist enterprises in the world, with a huge financial incentive to keep people sick. (I recommend the documentary They’re Trying To Kill Us which explores how the medical industry, fast-food industry, and government are interconnected in oppressing people.) Take away the profit motive, and 99.9% of “medicine” in the world would disappear, and we’d all be better off as a result.

What good is a vast amount of learning if what you have learned is not true? The medical profession has from the beginning based its practices upon false principles, hence throw physiology out the window and poison the sick with nostrums. We do not seek warmth of an iceberg, so why seek health from a poison? Let’s get our principles straight. Health comes from healthful influences and agencies. Drugs, all of which are poisons, do not belong among the health-building factors of life. – Herbert Shelton, Natural Hygiene: Man’s Pristine Way of Life (1968)

Agreed. There is no need for even more microplastic in everything from deep-sea sediment to rain clouds. But I suspect that as people accumulate more and more microplastic in their brains, they will become less and less capable of making rational and ecologically-responsible decisions. A vicious cycle.

And the tree doesn’t get too big and out of control?

Good to know. Different plants probably have different sensitivities to it also.

Okay, that’s enough out of you.

To be fair, Poaceae really is the devil. I’ve been battling the grass for as long as I can remember.

With their matching clothes and arrogant gait, they all kind of look the same at 70-80 mph.

Ah. I didn’t want to assume anything about your level of knowledge/experience. Apple trees and most nut trees can take a long time regardless, so time will tell how they perform…

Just so you know, being planted near black walnut trees also makes things grow slower. But yeah, I imagine that Maine would depress just about any tree…