From the Compost Heap header. A pencil style illustration of a compost heap with flowers and plants growing around it. A bee buzzes by and a white rabbit hops by.

  • Note to self: Try this.

    “A polyculture is one of the easiest and most productive way of growing your own food. It is the opposite of a mono culture (which is one crop per growing space) and this diversity of plants increases biodiversity, soil health and yields, as well as reducing pest pressure and you don’t need a lot of space. 👍🌱

    To sow a polyculture simply prepare any bed or growing container by top dressing it with a layer of organic compost and then around mid-to-late April (here in zone 9a) I just broadcast (or scatter) a diverse array of seed within it at the some time that produce at different points throughout the season.

    I’m sowing: Rocket, which will produce first,
    Mixed lettuce, which will be harvested second,
    then Rainbow chard, spring onion, beetroot, parsley and carrots, and later in the season the Chicory (Radicchio) and parsnips will be ready to harvest. 🥕🧅🥬”

    via nettlesandpetals on Instagram

    Read more: untitled post 156079249

  • I’ve been considering writing weekly newsletters, but spending less time on them?

    (My usual being 5 hours.)

    Then I read this.

    Could I write four short check in emails and one longer one each month? 🤔

    Read more: untitled post 156079247

  • From A Railway Carriage
    by Robert Louis Stevenson [1885]
    ​
    Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
    Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
    And charging along like troops in a battle,
    All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
    All of the sights of the hill and the plain
    Fly as thick as driving rain;
    And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
    Painted stations whistle by.
    Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
    All by himself and gathering brambles;
    Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
    And there is the green for stringing the daisies!
    Here is a cart run away in the road
    Lumping along with man and load;
    And here is a mill and there is a river:
    Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

    via Oliver Jeffers

    Read more: untitled post 156079244
  • Papertowels with blueberry stains on a glass oven cooktop beside a bunch of bananas and a papertowel with a note that says, "Do not throw away!"

    Sometimes being an artist means preserving paper towels with blueberry stains.

    Read more: untitled post 156079119

  • Neurodiversity Affirming Resource Library

    This resource library focuses on autism, ADHD, and hypersensitivity as these are my lived experience.* This area of research has been a passion of mine for nearly a decade. I’ll do my best to organize things so you can find what is helpful to you.

    Not sure what neurodivergence is?

    Start here.

    I am wearing overalls singing books. I'm sitting under a maple tree next to a pile of books on a quilt.

    Hi, I’m Sarah Shotts. A late diagnosed autistic adult, author, artist, home educator, and erstwhile academic. Over the last several years I’ve been doing self directed research and collecting resources to better understand myself and my neurodivergent family. To learn more about me and my work click here.

    Choose your adventure.

    Drawing of brain with colorful paint splatters over the top
    resources FOR PARENTS
    Watercolor illustration of the autism spectrum. A rainbow of colors blending into one another like a color wheel.
    resources for autistic adults

    What is Overstimulation?

    I made this video to share my experience of overstimulation.

    I also find that my autistic traits are almost always rooted in sensory differences. So this a helpful place to start when discussing autism. Overstimulation can also be experienced by ADHDers.

    (There’s also a shorter 30 second version here.)

    “On the Spectrum”

    When we talk about autism or neurodivergence we often mention a spectrum. Sometimes this is misunderstood as a range of intensity from “more” to “less.” But you cannot be “more” or “less” autistic or neurodivergent.

    I made a zine to illustrate the complexity and nuance of being “on the spectrum.” You can read it here.

    Spectrum: a zine about neurodivergence. Paper zine with magazine cutout letters and a watercolor spectrum with a rainbow of colors blending into one another.

    How it Feels to Me

    You may also enjoy the picture book I’m co-creating with an autistic illustrator Gracie Klumpp. How it Feels to Me is an introduction to sensory processing for readers of all ages.

    Cover design test for How it Feels to Me - a cream cover with swatches of colors: blues, greens, oranges, the title and a dark skinned human standing at the center surrounded by a halo of objects: tokens, leaves, a traffic cone, seashell, and more color swatches. Written by Sarah Shotts. Illustrated by Gracie Klumpp. Proof #1.

    FOOTNOTES

    * I have been professionally diagnosed with autism, but also have traits of ADHD such as time blindness and difficulties with object constancy. Having knowledge of these traits and functional coping strategies I have no interest in pursuing an ADHD diagnosis at this time.

    Read more: Neurodiversity Affirming Resource Library
  • Gazebo of green pipes with brown mulch inside and a few bachelor buttons and tall grass outside

    Added cardboard and mulch to the Wendy House.

    Read more: untitled post 156079393
  • Local Color Studio Gallery a gray and white building with a colorful paint spattered logo and a bright turquoise door. A large baptisia plant grows to the side and a large metal sculpture of triangles stacked in both positive and negative space.
    Local Color Studio sign with a colorful paint spattered logo and a hang in negative space. A variety of potted plants are beneath.
    White sink with colorful paint spatters.

    My work was recently in the Local Color Gallery in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

    Here are some photos of their lovely space. I love the paint all over the bathroom sink.

    Read more: untitled post 156079053
  • Laptop on desk in the living room surrounded by homeschool materials, dressing up box, shelves, boxes, clutter, and a gleeman's cloak on a dress form.

    I’ve accepted that I can’t always work in my lovely studio. So earlier this year I set up a workspace in the living room. And I am getting SO much done.

    Today I worked 3 hours here passing on copy edits for my anthology.

    Thankfully, the way my brain works, physical space becomes invisible if I can enter hyperfocus. Sound is more challenging for me, but I’m learning to work with the Zelda soundtrack.

    Read more: untitled post 156079049
  • Star shaped rainbow piñata hanging from the patio

    Six years around the sun calls for a piñata.

    Read more: untitled post 156079046
  • Poem above illustration of Pooh, Piglet and Christopher Robin. Text reads: The End When I was One, I had just begun. When I was Two, I was nearly new. When I was Three, I was hardly me. When I was Four, I was not much more. When I was Five, I was just alive. But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever So I think I'll be six now Forever and ever.
    Read more: untitled post 156079043