Links that may or may not be related to gardens, food, travel, nature, or heterotopias and liminal spaces but probably are. Sources in parentheses.
essay with photos: Crisfield Gardener is Going Native (Nuts for Natives) Pat Valdata has been transforming her creekside property on Maryland’s Eastern Shore from mostly lawn and a garden bed of non-native plants to a haven for pollinators: “Pat says everyone thinks the big challenge for gardening in low lying parts of the lower Eastern Shore is occasional flooding, especially along brackish streams. Her biggest challenge, though, has been two layers of landscape fabric left by the previous homeowner. Each new plant requires digging through that.” I feel ya, Pat. Some plants she’s got growing include lyre leaf sage (Salvia lyrata and a burgundy variety), golden alexander (Zizia aurea), native strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), hibiscus (I’m assuming swamp rose-mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos), and blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium).
essay: MINDING THE GARDEN GAP (Jared Barnes/Meristem) “Gaps are periods in the garden where not much captures the eye, nourishes wildlife, or invites engagement. … I filled our May gap by really paying attention in the garden. I asked the question, “What do I want to see that isn’t here?” … I’m taking notes now of changes I want to make next year. I find taking pictures on my phone, circling the changes I want, and saving them in a note labeled 2026 helps to organize my thoughts.”
essay (long): What did you do yesterday? – Big day out (Kelton Wright/Shangrilogs) Normally I don’t read much about parenting but this essay grabbed me, first with her enduring love for her pets (despite, can you believe it, also having a human child) and that she puts dead mice out on a platform for the birds, and second with this: “11:15am: I grab the diaper bag, W3 [still-nursing-age kid], and Jibs [dog], and we head to lunch. I tie Jibs up outside to a table, staking a claim, and head inside to order a breakfast sandwich, a side of berries, and a chai. This is, in theory, relaxing. But it’s a baby and a puppy and a concrete table and a bowl of fruit and a plate and an open cup of hot liquid and a sun hat and a leash and a lot of people reacting to all of it. So in order for it to be relaxing, you have to cast a spell while doing it, chanting, “this is nice, this is so lovely, I’m so glad we’re doing this,” over and over until you believe it. 11:43am: Thank god that’s over.”
essay with photos & videos: An Experiment in Organic Lawn to Meadow Conversion: A Timeline Home (Sara Weaner Cooper/NDAL) “Sara eagerly initiated the process of transitioning the lawn into a native wildflower meadow. However, she wanted to avoid three things: herbicide, heavy physical labor, and an extended “ugly” phase.” Really well done, both the project itself, still in progress but looking great, and the showing of how it was done.
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