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.
  • Our chaos garden has turned feral.

    After being gone for a week and sick for another here’s a look at how it’s going. And it’s going to stay this overgrown for a while.

    One of my chronic illnesses causes heat intolerance so it is what it is at this point. (I can do a bit in evenings, but can’t keep pace with the grass.)

    The perennials that hold space against the grass are key. I keep adding more of them, but we can only afford to do so much at once. 🤷

    I show this to not idealize the chaos gardening approach. It works better in some seasons than others. Between the heat and the rain the witch grass is currently winning. My main point is that you don’t have to be a perfect gardener to enjoy gardening.

    Brick house with an undulating garden bed overrun with grass. A black armillary sphere and purple russian sage pierce the weeds.
    Garden bed along fence completely overrun with grass. A tall butterfly bush towers to the left.
    The self seeded sunflowers between overgrown garden beds.

    The self seeded sunflowers are a bright light. They’ve attracted goldfinch which we don’t often see.

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  • “Greetings from sultry, humid Indianapolis, where our garden is having its worst year ever. We replaced a bunch of soil this year, and the new dirt turned out to be inadequately acidic, so what plants have survived are struggling. In this respect, many of you may find my garden relatable—who among us has not felt that we were planted in slightly poisoned soil? But nonetheless, some of the fava beans and tomatoes are finding their way as my mom and I desperately try to fix the soil, make sure the plants get adequate water, and so on.

    This is critical work we do for our vegetables, but it is also critical work we do for each other and the world. On tiny or large scales, we try to provide each other with adequate nutrition and water, and to improve the circumstances in which we grow. Of course, we may end up with a garden of withered plants despite our best efforts this year, but it’s still worth trying.

    Hope is always justified, even if it isn’t always rewarded.”

    John Green

    Emphasis mine.

    Source


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  • Nettle Liquid Feed

    Crush nettles to bruise and rip.
    Mix with equal weight of brown sugar.

    Cram in sterile jar to ferment.

    Cover with sugar.

    Weigh with stone. Leave air gap.

    Cover with breathable cover like sourdough.

    Leave cool and dark 5-7 days.

    Strain off liquid and that’s your plant food.

    Dilute 1 in 500 or for delicate plants 1 in 1000.

    She says it doesn’t smell bad like some liquid feeds!

    via Francis Tophill at Damson Farm

    BBC Gardeners World 2025: 14

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  • 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

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  • A little scrappy gardening vlog.

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  • Chaos Gardening: Tips from a Chronically Ill & Neurodivergent Gardener

    Chaos Gardening black and white zine among blooming daisies in my garden. The title is cut out magazine letters and peony leaf rubbings are overlaid. The subtitle readers: tips from a chronically ill and neurodivergent gardener.

    I think I’m finding my groove with zine making. I had a lot of fun going analogue this month and in addition to my typewriter I also incorporated collage and nature rubbings.

    Or subscribe for zines delivered to your mailbox every month.

    The back of the zine. You can read some text typed on my typewriter and see peony leaf rubbings. The text reads: VI. No dig•
A few strategies I use to minimize pain are:
No dig garden beds (areas with soil piled on cardboard).
Cardboard lined raised beds.
A low gardeningstool (B to avoid back pain & dizziness).
Suppressing weeds (minimizing weeding) with cardboard or spare paving stones. Anything that will block sunlight & not blow away will do. A Kindle Curiosity Zine. May 2025.

    Read more: Chaos Gardening: Tips from a Chronically Ill & Neurodivergent Gardener
  • Therapeutic weeding. The front bed is overrun with witch grass because I wasn’t well enough to garden last year, but reclaiming it one patch at a time. Excited about our first sea holly – it’s a variety called Hobbit.

    Runner grass surrounding plants in the garden bed. My rainboot, a narrow widger, and a sea holly are also visible.
    Mulch surrounding sea holly, sage, and russian sage with tall grass growing beyond.
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  • A fig tree freshly planted in our backyard.

    Meet our new tree, Loial.

    I was unmoored after the last episode and wandered around the garden centers until I came home with this fig tree. We planted it in honor of Brother Book.

    Your name sings in our ears @hammedhamz. Thank you for bringing this beloved character to life. His spirit will live on in our garden and perhaps one day bear figs. 🍃

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  • Drawing of witch grass with runner root offshoots from the book Gardening without work by Ruth Stout

    Gardening Without Work: for the aging, the busy and the indolent by Ruth Stout

    (Read for free on Internet Archive)

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  • Gardening Resources

    How to Plant Your First Garden 🌱 via Dark Properties

    Advice for Starting No Dig 🥕 via Charles Dowding

    Find Your Last Frost Date ❄️ via Almanac.com

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