Same! I deleted my 10 year account. Kinda not even sad. It was going downhill for a while now. But hey I just created my own instance for gardeners called thegarden.land so now I have a new home to grow roots and thrive!

This is a very well-written essay and I appreciate all the thought you have put into this. These issues are nuanced and difficult to navigate I'm sure. I don't envy you there but I'm glad that you are putting serious thought into this all. The mental health issue is one I've never considered. I don't follow those kinds of threads usually. I agree with you on all these points you have raised and I'm happy to be here and away from all the yuck over at You-Know-Where.

Let's get some content!

I'm in the same boat. I am adding clover seed when I reseed the lawn and encouraging it as much as I can. Using Dutch White, since the native clovers don't really work as a lawn alternative. However I am growing a native called Springbank Clover but that's just for fun- I really like clover. I also have Crimson which I use as a green manure and Red clover which is just pretty and fiils in some gaps in the flower bed. Like I said I like clover. The one people are using as a lawn alternative is 'mini' clover. As I understand it it's a hybrid that hasn't stabilized itself yet and will revert back to whatever it's parents were (dutch white probably?). So I haven't bought that yet. It's kinda pricey. But ya it does sound great. More drought tolerant, has flowers for pollinators, adds nitrogen. I'd love to see it in practice.

Shwaaa???!! I want to know so much more! What does it look like? How is it powered? Was there anything living inside? Pics of family taped to the dashboard? This is so exciting

Do you really think you could fold it to the size of a pill though? I think that would be a hard pill to swallow.

I'm doing a much better job than I did last year. First- I have thinned out the plants to leave only the largest mature plants with plenty of space in between. I water only in the morning so that the surface is dry by night time when slugs come. I have also laid bark mulch (straw would be good too I think) which helps with slugs. Then finally I got some cheap bird netting from Amazon. So far we have only seen two berries with slug bites. Last year at least half had damage. If you or anyone else knows much about this I am trying to find out something: I want to cultivate the runners which will grow after the berries. Next summer, can I harvest from those runners or do I need to remove the flowers and wait until two summers from now to harvest berries from those runners?

Is that right? I had no idea. Hermann Hesse made it seem like you just grab a crusty piece of bread and a bottle of wine and walk out into the Black Forest. What a bummer! Does Germany have Right to Roam?

Oh neat! you should post a pic here we would love to see that! How and when did you lay the seed? and can it tolerate being walked on? Also I'd love to know if you have dogs and if it can stand up to that kind of 'abuse'?

Okay great I was hoping that’s the case. I have just Rainer strawberries which are June bearers

It's so pretty! and you can see in the top right corner just how much greener it is than the old patchy grass. Great job! I with I could zoom in but beehaw won't let me do that (just me?)

lol thank you

Ya here is some good info. The place to find them is Hagg Lake. Drive around the back side of the lake and there is a spot to pull over that has an informational sign about the butterfly, and that's where you can find several of these lupines and I'm sure you'll find the butterfly too. I believe they are still in bloom now. Good luck!

Nice article with gorgeous pictures. Also some strange poetry!

nah sorry that's not peyote. cute though!

Really? I don’t get that. I go to the ‘communities’ button at the top, where they are sorted by population, so it’s easy to find some good ones right away. If I want to search something specific I type it in the search bar and there it is. Is it not that way for you? That seems easy to me

Zone 8, Pacific Northwest. I've seen in growing mostly in coastal towns.

I removed all the runners (the shoots you’re seeing), and al the smaller plants leaving only the largest plants with about 12-18 inches between each plant. The mature plants can produce well for 3-5 years, at which point I will let the runners grow and replace the older plants (after next summer for me). Did you buy the plant like that? When I bought mine I divided it right away into 10 plants, and removed the flowers the first year to force them to grow bigger roots first.

Here’s what I would recommend. Separate your runners. If they have roots already I would cut them from the mother and give them their own space. Next summer they will produce for you and don’t worry about removing the flowers. For the main mother plant: divide it as soon as it stops producing this summer.

Is yours a June bearing or ever bearing variety?

Hey come on over to ![email protected] we would love to see some of your work there

GEOSTOOOOORRMMMMM!!!