Planning your garden in the face of climate breakdown

In the face of climate breakdown, the task of cheerfully planning one’s garden may be filled with sadness, anxiety, or confusion. The snowy picture of my backyard looks lovely and wintry but until yesterday, it was freakishly mild. I know other parts of the world are experiencing much more serious climate chaos. However, the creation of spaces in which people and non-human nature can flourish is more important now than perhaps ever before.

Radical change & radical patience: lessons from my garden

Sometimes we have to spend time nurturing things even though we don’t know when and if they will flourish. This is true for gardens and it’s also true for social change and social movements. Maybe there are movements that, like my native wildflowers, seem to have died but will grow back stronger and more beautiful than ever. Maybe there are forms of social change that I will nurture for years like my Paw Paws, possibly never getting to eat the fruit myself but creating the conditions so that others can.