got a feature in the @hudsonfarmersmarketny newsletter this week about our garden 😎 for National Pollinator's Week which starts on the 21st! 🐝🐜🐞🦋

I dug up our front yard almost as soon as we moved in. First thing I planted was rhubarb and raspberry. Been here a little over 9 years and this is an ongoing project.

We've been reported to the town by our neighbors multiple times over the years. I never backed down from code enforcement. Sent videos and pictures of this garden playing host to pollinators.

I fought for this and worked on it and now we have new neighbors who stop to appreciate what we're doing and thank us. Times change. We are outliers making a difference with a GARDEN.

Happy that our neighborhood got more diverse-- from our yard we hear Mandarin, Spanish, Bangladeshi, Hindi and see families who are younger with kiddos. And I can't help but think that the obsession with pristine yards will be a thing of the past. More people, more experience, more life, more memories.

I grew up playing and learning in the gardens my mom grew. Flowers, herbs, veggies... all her specialty. Our gardens always teamed with life.

I dug into bird and insect identification books (dog id books were my favorite though!). My grandfather used to sit outside with me and play cassettes of bird calls. We would mimic their songs and sing with them. Felt like HOURS but I loved it and what was time back then.

My favorite thing as a teen was putting basil in my pockets in the morning before school so that I would keep smelling it through the day. Nice reminder of home and must have given me some comfort while navigating the insanity of high school 😵😝

Anyway, tear up your front yard. Fuck your shitty neighbors. Be a steward.

Remember the rapture of talking with flowers or taking in their deep scent.

Give space the bird, bees, butterflies, moths, worms, bugs, everything little that needs our help.

Interdependence is everything. Community is more than humans.