Happy Solstice! It’s currently 53 degrees and sunny here in Oakland, California. Along with even colder temperatures at night, which I discovered sitting on the front porch last evening.
Hi everyone, glad you’re here! Just in case you missed it, the last newsletter (https://www.plantkind.co/newsletter/a-renewed-vision-for-the-practice-of-gardening) re-introduced Plantkind and the plans moving forward. I’ve been thinking about this all as v3 of Plantkind, which is reflected on the new website (https://www.plantkind.co/) . This version is simply a moment in time really, it’s always evolving, there’s more to un-learn and try again, something different to experiment with, and a new plant to tuck into the ground for the first time.
I’m looking forward to continuing to put these ideas into practice in even more tangible ways over the course of the next twelve months. The past year there’s been so much work on the business that I think the follow through is going to provide lots of opportunity for growth. This was all the back-end systems, processes, beliefs, and tools that have been put in place. I’ve been thinking the focus of the 2021 for Plantkind, might be mostly working in the business. This looks like even more focus on designing and planting native gardens.
Newsletter Reflections
This newsletter was going to be all about how I discovered and then went all in on native plants. There are all of these newsletters half written, but finding the right mindset for writing is pretty tricky these days. The structure for this newsletter here came to me while driving to the studio just now randomly. Which is both exciting, but not sustainable or repeatable if you want to get ideas out there.
Something I often wonder is whether the newsletter should go out each week, this was the idea the first three times I tried sending out the Offshoot newsletter, but it never really stuck.
Earlier this week, my friend Vin was talking about how by just caring, doing the work and having good intentions it’s totally fine to put out work that isn’t 100% perfect. How everything is a process, one iteration a time, learning as we go. Maybe each newsletter doesn’t need to be a fully formed cohesive new breakthrough, but rather whatever stage the ideas may find themselves in.
Just finished reading Writers and Lovers (https://beta.readng.co/book/writers-lovers-by-lily-king-0evun) , on recommendation from Sloane, and the protagonist writes every morning after walking the dog. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not so much. This seems to be the thing that works for lots of people and will have to give it a go.
Planting Gardens w/ Clients
There have been a bunch of gardens that I’ve designed getting planted over the last couple months. For three of these projects, the clients have been the ones doing the planting, and so each of them feel much more like collaborators and garden buddies in the process. I’ve been dreaming that this is the future of Plantkind moving forward, getting all our hands dirty together. The hypothesis is that we can all have a deeper connection with our homes and gardens, if the plants were planted together.
So grateful that all of you were down to plant your own garden, and can’t wait to see how everybody grows up together. It’s pretty neat to see this start to happen. There is something super special here for sure and I’m curious if this keeps happening.
Nursery Visit and Gardening Again
We visited Oaktown Native Plant Nursery (https://oaktownnursery.com/) a couple weekends ago for the first time, super lovely spot and people there. Picked up some plants for a project and we found a Eriogonum giganteum (https://calscape.org/Eriogonum-giganteum-(St.-Catherine’s-Lace)) for our own front garden that we’re very excited to witness.
We’re documenting our own experiments here on Futureland (https://futureland.tv/ethan/native-garden/) . The approach for the plant palette is scattered and not designed in advance at all. Some rescue plants, others dug up from friends’ gardens and transplanted, along with some impulse not well thought out nursery finds. I’m grateful to have a playground like this.
Slowing Down
It’s been extremely tricky to slow down for the holiday season this year. Feeling like there is still so much that is ready to flow out of me into the world. And to slow down my mind means to hold back on that. But it’s all interconnected, and I’m trying to remember that. By slowing down in some ways, will make room for other aspects to grow stronger.
Today is my last day in the studio which feels more and more like a place where the real work happens, so it will be good to step away for a bit. I’m starting to think that the whole New Year concept doesn’t make much sense any more for me, that a shift to celebrating the seasons feels more in tune.
Thank you all for everything, and your support this past year. Hoping you’re finding what you need as we move through this winter season!
Warmly, E
Take a scan outside your window. Notice what plants have morphed into something else in the last week or blossomed into something different.
Thank you for being here! This is an e-newsletter about the practice of gardening. Sent by Ethan, who is growing Plantkind (http://plantkind.co)
Magnolia Street, Oakland, CA 94607 Gardening on ** Indigenous (http://plantkind.co/values) land