#plantcraft

[headspace-hotel]

Remember everyone:

Guerrilla gardening is for the neglected and barely-noticed little spots that see hardly any maintenance

For heavily maintained areas like golf courses, you gotta talk to people and organize. Find a person in your local government that seems most closely related to what you want to do or someone part of a gardening and/or environmentalist club or organization and send an email

Once you know your invasive species, you can get free plants from around May through about August by carefully yoinking seedlings from gravel and pavement cracks (look next to creeks, shrubby woods, and pasture) just don't get run over by a car

You must find retired old ladies who are avid gardeners. They will have all the connections you need

Volunteer at a nature center or preserve, even an hour a week, and you will learn very quickly all about invasive and native species and make lots of connections, and once you've proven yourself interested in being helpful and useful, they may let you transplant cool plants that happened to pop up in a parking area or mowed strip

If you've got access to a public library, they might host a seed swap

Happy plantcraft y'all

[elodieunderglass]

did i follow a Popular Blog without being aware of it? the amount of people sending you horrible legs astounds me

I think I’m incredibly lucky in the circle I have, and I’m very grateful for the horrible legs you all send me.

It is probably useful for the community of horribleness enjoyers to have someone reliable to hold the reins, so not all of that is about me!

I don’t know if my blog is popular. I don’t believe it is.

I have done/contributed to a number of posts that went on/off platform viral (100k notes/getting offsite coverage) over several years.

On tumblr I have influenced the external world in some microscopic tiny ways (coining the term plantcraft, starting the elder teletubbies lore, writing a post about cricket that apparently really amuses old folks off-platform, being mentioned in books and academic articles, etc.) So people will vaguely recognise my name, probably just as That Bitch Under Glass, but I think because of that it’s easy to have a disproportionate idea of how I’m influential. Tl;dr, I’m occasionally good at making catchy posts and I’m lucky in my circle.

I have about 30k followers (checked today!) but I don’t curate them. Many of these will be deactivated or bots. This is not a high number for social media and definitely doesn’t make you an “influencer” although it may be high for tumblr. I am not here for followers and feel like I have great engagement, though, which I measure largely by the numbers of horrible things with legs I receive.

Of the people who send me horrible things with legs, there are some consistent standout reporters and investigators who are never-tiring in their ongoing efforts to diligently record, and send to me for curation and tagging, the best of the most horrible things with legs. They are the real heroes here.

In conclusion, I don’t believe I have a popular blog, but I agree it has popular effects. I think that horrible things with legs are a natural phenomenon that we all have a duty to categorise and I’m very grateful for my position here.

[holy-court-rising]

doodle commissions for junglecat and plantcraft on flight rising!

get some art for your dragons here! (pwyw)

[cloudbattrolls]

Tell Us How to Live

Gliese Benral | Forest Near the Kelter Mansion | Present Night

Something was changing.

She’d felt it, reaching into her constructs lately. She had a deeper connection now, could feel through their senses more acutely. It wasn’t necromancy, wasn’t flesh and bone and spirit. Not directly. 

Wasn’t plantcraft either. She was getting better at that, coaxing buds and thorns from scraps with ease now, but this was totally unrelated. This didn’t occur when she shaped flowers or vines; same level of control as ever. She couldn’t commune with her plants, fucking shame that it was.

No, this was…weird. Not bad, but weird, the way she was linked to them now. She could feel their thoughts - more than their thoughts. Their perceptions, simple and blunted as they were, being non-sapient constructs, with dead bodies and half-dead minds.

The drag of a bony foot through soil. The swirl of a breeze through dead hair.

She hadn’t tried on Zeller yet. She knew asking probably wouldn’t go down well. 

Gliese wanted to ask Quilis. In person.

Sure, she could’ve gone to Astirn. But her friend wasn’t in the middle of a damn desert, and if this was some emerging change to her magic, she wanted advice before she presented it to her mentor. 

So she went over, and oh who was fucking waiting in the woods but creature feature itself.

“It’s not safe right now.” Said Eileit as she approached, wearing its stupid goth maid outfit as the blueblood resisted the urge to throw something at it.

“Bullshit.” She said. “You just don’t want me there.”

It shook its head. “Quilis isn’t accepting visitors, and they’re away at the shop right now. I can ask them to text you when they get back if you want an explanation.”

“Then why are you here?” She demanded. “How come you get to stick around?”

It blinked. “To help.”

She snarled. “Like hell you are. What’s your real reason? What are you planning?”

“Whatever I say, you won’t believe.” It said calmly. “Goodbye.”

It turned to walk away. Gliese, frustrated, reached out with her magic just to stop it in place -

A vast well of feeling. Silver and black and green, a web of wires, a sea of blades, a storm of light -

Quilis’s face and voice. Her favorite teas. The decorations on the taxidermy. A plush bear. A bag of candies. Conversations. Laughter. 

Deep respect. Admiration. A desire to learn more. An appreciation of beauty. A strange fondness. 

An acceptance of its place, that none of this should be spoken of.

Love, the blueblood realized, as she struggled to extract herself from the swirl of feelings. 

So much love.

She came back to reality, nearly stumbling onto the grass.

The blueblood breathed hard, her lean face covered in sweat. Her glowing orange eyes crackled slightly, and blue sparks flew around the base of her horns as well.

Eileit had turned around and its eyes - weren’t maroon anymore. 

The sclera had gone black. The pupils were bright jade slits.

“What -“ It said pleasantly, but with an unmistakable edge to its tone. “- did you just do?”

“Uh.” She said, still reeling a bit from the wash of emotions. “I don’t know.” She admitted. 

“Hm.” It said, arms crossed behind its back as it examined her. “My mind - no, my feelings. If it was my mind, you’d be in worse shape, most likely…”

“Yeah, I didn’t really get like, words?” She said, wiping her face with a small towel from her sylladex. “Just emotions. Shit, I didn’t know I could do that. You’re not undead. How did I do that?”

She paused, then looked disgusted as it sank in.

“Oh god. You have a flushcrush on Quilis. I so regret asking.”

Its face was unreadable.

“Will you tell her?”

Gliese snorted.

“Fuck no. I don’t want to give her daymares.”

It nodded. A bird called somewhere in the trees.

“Then we agree. No need to speak of it.”

“Thank god.” She said fervently. “I’d have to teach you a hard lesson otherwise.”

It stared at her with those awful green slits, those piercing eyes, and Gliese shivered.

Its clasped its hands politely. Its head tilted slightly, one ear raised, the other lowered.

“What would you do-” It said, so soft, so cold. “-if I felt differently?”

Gliese bit her lip, ears flicking as she looked away - up, down, settling on the side.

“I’d-” She said, then stopped. “I’d- fuck.” She spat. 

“I’d do nothing! Happy? I’d fucking do nothing, and you know it. Gloat about it, why don’t you.”

It shook its head. “It’s not about me, Gliese. This is very much about you.”

“Oh, don’t fucking try to schoolfeed me.” She snarled. “Of course this is about you! You and your - fucked up feelings.”

It blinked. 

“Am I to be condemned when I’ve never spoken a word? When I would never act on them?”

Gliese wanted to say she couldn’t trust it. But she’d seen - she’d felt - the truth. Eileit knew better. It understood Quilis would never return its feelings, and it didn’t mind. 

“You’re so fucking - righteous.” She muttered. “It feels fake. No one’s really that pure about it. Everyone wants their crush to notice them, at least a little.”

“Not righteous.” It said, shaking its head. “Aware there’s no point. I've cut out feelings like that to ensure my silence and courtesy.”

The hare troll bit her lip. It was so…so goddamn casual about fucking with its own head. No wonder it hadn’t freaked out when she’d accidentally found her own way in.

Accidentally, and yet it had felt entirely natural. Like she was meant to do stuff like that.

“Yeah, well.” She said roughly, pushing onward. “Good. Keep it that way.”

“I don’t want to be told to leave.” It said with amusement. 

Gliese paused.

“Doubt they’d tell you to.” She admitted, grudgingly.

“Maybe not.” Eileit acknowledged. “But they would be within their rights if they did.” It said calmly. 

“I’m content with what I do and the kindness Quilis has shown me.” It continued, tapping its chin. “But…it isn’t technically any of your business. You aren’t her quadrant. And she’s more than capable of handling herself.”

“I’m her friend.” The blueblood spat. “I know Quilis can handle herself fine! I’m not worried about that.”

“Worried about what, then.” It said, blinking. 

She gritted her teeth.

“It’s just - it’s fucking weird! No one knows exactly what you are or what you’ll do. None of us know shit. We can’t trust you.”

It nodded.

“Good points. But be honest.”

She wanted to strangle the fucking thing, but she knew it wouldn’t help. “You’re a freak.” She finally admitted. “You’re a freak and a threat and nowhere near being a troll. Even Tuuya used to be one. You never were, were you?”

“No.” It agreed with a creepy smile.

“See that? That right there?” She said, pointing at its face. “That is why I don’t fucking like it. You are a disturbing little bitch and you don’t even try to pretend otherwise or apologize or anything.”

“I didn’t ask to exist this way.” It said calmly. “I am as I was made.”

“You could put more effort into being normal.” Gliese muttered.

It looked at her, a trace of weariness on its red-freckled face.

“Being like a troll…would require amputating the majority of myself. There would only be a fragment left. It would be stiff and stilted, or shallow and lacking. There is no version of me sanitized enough for your liking.”

“Maybe Quilis would be into you if you tried.” she murmured, aware it wasn't a great joke, but goddamn this situation needed some levity.

Eileit looked at her with such withering disdain that she blushed blue in mild shame.

It spoke a single word.

“No.”

Gliese wanted to be angry. She wanted to shout that who did it think it was, talking back to her? It was a machine. A machine couldn’t comprehend or feel love…

…and yet this one did. 

It turned away, apparently done with the conversation.

“So, what, you’d rather just not change, even if people liked you more?”

“Would you?” It said neutrally, beginning to walk away from her.

She gritted her teeth. “Okay, not usually, but…some people are worth changing for. Worth trying to be better.”

“Quilis has made no complaint about my behavior or service.” It said. “If they did, I would listen.”

It got further away, deeper into the forest.

Gliese ran to catch up to it, stopping a few feet behind the false maroon.

“Yeah, well…I’m not saying you should say anything, obviously, but you wouldn’t try to act more troll, even for her?”

It stopped and looked at the blueblood.

“‘And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul? I have perceived that to be with those I like is enough.’”

It walked faster, disappearing behind the trees before she could say anything else.

The mage’s orange eyes followed it, uncertain, her ears slightly lowered.

Well, this sure wasn’t how she’d expected discovering her native domain to go.

[mega-byte]

Time to turn off the lights and watch someone terraform mars for 5 hours in plantcrafters

[danoshanter]

Most.

Magickal.

Evening ...

So I was just down by the barge canal on Lake Champlain, Burlington VT, observing a new magickal ritual of guerilla plantcrafting where I put in a mix of ruderalis and white widow seeds to bring a little wonder joy and magick back to sites like that that have been poisoned by human greed (its I think one of the few Superfund toxic cleanup sites in Vermont.) It;s just turning from sunset to twilight, and I put in the last seed of the evening and look up to see the full moon. LITERALLY at that exact moment ...

*honk*

...

*honk honk*

...

I couldn't see the Canada geese in the dimming sky, but could hear them fly over, so I honked up at them in greeting.

Next thing I half-saw in the twilight was the ripples lapping shore at the water's edge as at least one swooped silently in and landed, again absolutely literally, on the mirror-still dark quicksilver water ten feet from me.

And then honked back.

Once.

Don't tell me there ain't no magic left in the world. I've always been one of the faerie children, so I would have just quietly gone on knowing what I know anyway, but after this?

Anybody denies that magic, that wonder, that dream are alive and well in the world, I'm afraid I'll be discourteous enough a faerie knight as to openly laugh in their face

(btw the guy in the picture isn't me, that;s a stock photo from the Burlington Free Press local newspaper story here:

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/picture-gallery/life/2021/11/27/pine-street-barge-canal-burlington-vt-legacy-timber-industry-superfund-poison-beauty/6284898001/

but the GENERAL location is right (barge canal stretches along about two - three miles of the southern main corridor leading out of town (or rather, along Pine Street which is the street next closest to the lake FROM the main southern corridor)

[mightystargazer]

New earrings - Potted plants!

Terracotta pot, macrame plant hanger (that was fiddly!) and crocheted plant and soil.

.

.

.

#earrings #earringshandmade #earringshandmade #plant #macrame #plantcraft

#amigurumilove #amigurumi #amigurumitoy #amigurumiaddict #amigurumilicious #amigurumist #crochet #crochettoy #crochetaddict #crochetlover #crochetart #crochetersofinstagram #crafts #crafty #knithacker @knithacker #threadart #miniaturecrochet #miniature #miniatureworld

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A post shared by Mia Svensson (@mightystargazer)

[jeopardangelo]

Welcome to day 6 of the Second Chance Tournament! We have Sarah Snider, Jeff Smith, and Sadie Goldberger! Sarah had a close lead against Jeff and Sadie in the Jeopardy! round. In CAPTAIN, Jeff found the round’s Daily Double, he bet $1,000 out of his $600 and came up with an incorrect question. There were 3 triple stumpers and one rebound in the round. Going into Double Jeopardy!, Sarah had $5,600, Sadie had $3,000, and Jeff had $3,000. In Double Jeopardy!, Sadie and Jeff made a comeback and were trying to fight to move on to the finals to win $35,000. In PLANTCRAFT, Sadie found the round’s 1st Daily Double, she bet $1,000 out of her $12,400 and came up with an incorrect question. In NEWS MAKERS & WRITERS ‘22, Sadie found the round’s 2nd Daily Double, she bet $800 out of her $11,400 and came up with the correct question. There were 4 triple stumpers and one rebound in the round. Going into Final Jeopardy!, Sadie had $13,400, Jeff had $10,600, and Sarah had $5,200. The category was AUTHORS. The clue was, “When Esquire began as a men's lifestyle magazine in the 1930s, he was asked for manly content & wrote in 28 of the first 33 issues”. Sarah came up with, “Who is Hemingway?”, which is correct and bet $5,198, which took her to $10,398. Jeff also came up with what Sarah said and bet $2,801, which took him to a $1 lead over Sadie with $13,401. Sadie also came up with what Sarah and Jeff said and bet $7,801, which took her to $21,201. Sadie Goldberger moves on to the finals! Jeff Smith receives $2,000, and Sarah Snider receives $1,000. @jeopardy #kenjennings #secondchancetournament #recap #2022 https://www.instagram.com/p/CkHuaTuOz9U/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[picklesandpitch]

[witchy-plantdaddy]

🕊My Asks are Open🕊

And they have been for a while. Please feel free to ask me anything plant or witchcraft related. Or pretty much whatever else you might be curious about. I’ll do my best to respond to you as soon as I can. 🕯🌿

[elderjourney]

[elodieunderglass]

I have a genuine question about rewilding lawns. Is there a way to keep down/minimize the tick population in a rewilded “lawn?” I’d love to have a more natural yard some day, but I do worry about exposing myself and my dog to ticks.

Sure, there will be as many ways as there are outcomes you might want.

Before we talk about any plantcraft we ask where we are, what the land is like, and what we want to achieve here. So I’ll sort of fill that in a bit on your behalf and that might give you some ideas.

I’m just going to randomly presume that you’re in the New England region of the USA for no other reasons than 1. Lyme babyyyy and 2. It’s where I’m from, so lol. We’ll presume you have a quarter acre of unbroken turf with no landscaping or features, in American suburbia, but near enough to undeveloped woods that ticks have a fairly unbroken habitat and complete their lifestyle appropriately. We’ll presume that they are definitely present and frequently foray into the housing development. And we’ll presume that your outcome and intentions are basically: “I want to feel like this space DOES MORE for the environment, specifically by reducing the need for inputs and maintenance, and increasing the biodiversity on this property; but I’m not able to change my entire way of life, which is set up mostly how I want it already.”

If you live in the NE region, then the ticks you mostly live with are the American deer and dog tick. and the bad news about those buddies and my presumed vision of your situation is that you should be practicing rigorous tick checks in everyday life anyway! even if your yard is a sterile moonscape 😌🙃 because they are endemic, insidious and on the rise due to climate change; and in your situation it’s not unreasonable to expect them even if you keep a lawn suitable for competitive croquet, and hose it down with permethrin. So step one is to practice tick safety regularly anyway: for yourself in the shower when you shower, and for your dog when you’re sitting on the couch.

Secondly, it sounds kind of like you and your dog go out in the yard off-leash, or want to, so it could be a good idea to fence the property or just a defined play area on it. because a) dogs are dogs, and b) limiting deer access is a gentle way to limit the food cycle.

Okay so what next? Here are some ideas that will all give different outcomes.

1.) barrier off a small pleasant grassy area for you and your dog to play in; keep it quite close-cut. You have your area and the ticks have theirs.

2.) barrier off the least desirable corner of the property , ideally near an existing tree, and score a small piece of turf with a sharp tool; drop in some purchased native wildflower seeds. let the turf grow out, go to flower, and seed. When it goes golden let it stand there. Add a stack of logs and erect a “bug hotel”, of some description, which won’t do much for bugs but will tie the look together. Put up a wooden sign reading THIS SPACE RESERVED FOR NATURE. You have your area and the ricks have theirs (other way around.) this sounds insane and instagrammish but if you live in a suburb, HOA area, with others, etc then you’ll be surprised how much the Explanatory Sign changes the way people feel about it. Also, saves you having to radically redesign anything. You made a Nature Bit, and that can be a complete sentence or the beginning of a journey. Maybe over the years you can add a water source for wildlife, more plantings, and generally observe how it all evolves.

3. Practice No Mow May and Let it Bloom June. Just don’t mow the lawn in May and June. Do more by doing less. These initiatives started in the UK, but have had great results when trialled in America - learn more here: https://beecityusa.org/no-mow-may/ and if it’s just for two months, why not make it a personal science project? Journal the number of ticks you pick off your dog on your tick check - it’ll be kinda interesting to know anyway, wouldn’t it? Are you restricting your life for fear of a problem that ends up not being reflected in the data? - and count how many butterflies you see. Also: really easy branding on this one, easy to explain to the neighborhood, easy to put up a sign or post links on Nextdoor, quite easy to get buy-in from neighbors. Now there’s an idea. Having a continuous coordinated butterfly-friendly grass habitat across several properties in May and June is more impactful than having a shitty half-considered plan in one. Plus, you’d be dodging the dry hot part of the year that’s most attractive to ticks.

4. Keep pet Guinea hens. Haven’t you always wanted pet Guinea hens? They’re small, empty-brained dinosaurs that scream like they’re being skinned, act like you’re going to eat them whole, and have no redeeming properties except for eating deer ticks and dropping pretty feathers for crafts. They will invent 65 new ways to kill themselves just to make you feel guilty. What? You just said you didn’t want ticks, you didn’t tell me you HATED BIRDS -

5. Keep the lawn, dig a few large holes in it, and drop in a loose grid of baby fruit trees. Most of them are not native to the USA, they’re definitely not wild, but they’re part of creating a different kind of Space: shaded, cool, covered, offering blossom to insects and (soon) shelter to animals, encouraging mosses and lichens, not impacting ticks or your dog much one way or the other, not really wanting any work from you, and being generally considered Improvement to the Neighborhood. And you’ll see the benefit while you’re still living in the house, which you won’t normally with Big Proper Trees (which will probably be cut down by the next owner, where fruit trees are considered strangely lovable and have long lifespans). You can mow if you like (don’t strim the trunks!) or not, plant flowers in the grass beneath or not, prune them for fruit bearing… or not. If over time you find that you’re loving the trees and how they change the whole vibe, surprise - you’ve gotten a head start on a big journey towards a yard that feeds you and nature. And while they may not be native, there are few critters that say no to a plant raised for blossom and sugary fruit; the wasps alone will grasp you by the collar and murmur gratitude in your ear. Next year you might fill in some shrubs, or take your experience from raising apple trees (surprise, they’re usually the easiest trees to raise - plug and play trees, basically) to other, more difficult prospects. Maybe you’ll have levelled up so far that you’ll be ready to take on some big challenges. Black walnut…? Anyway 5b) trees live on a different time scale to us, so if you crave having more of them, I’d suggest starting with keeping one or two adorable entry-level ones, pay attention to them, and see how you get on.

6. Call up the local cooperative extension, find your local Facebook eco group, and get in touch with your local community for what they’re doing (and do they have any free plants.) it may well turn out that you have no taste or energy for doing much with your own lawn, but you end up spending every weekend in a local national park tending to the reintroduction of rare orchids. Who knows. Also, they might have free plants. Anyway, advice from people who know the land, not me.

7. Journal and pay attention to the land you have, and what your local nature preserves look like, through the seasons. YOU generate YOUR OWN ideas about what you want your home to look like. Slot the bits together and call it your own plan. Also, read “Reading the Forested Landscape,” because it changed my life as a child and im projecting on you.

8. Flip the turf over, replant with clover or something that meets your needs, and call it a day. Eh, bees like clover, it doesn’t grow high enough for ticks and it gets on surprisingly well with dogs. See also any other groundcover, but make sure it’s good for dogs - you have a duty to the dependent animal you already have, it doesn’t matter if you get internet points or not.

9. Hire a local nature-centred landscape designer for a consultation. This is literally exactly what my neighbor does for a living, and you’d be surprised — it isn’t just RICH PEOPLE who hire him. They will come over, squint at the angle of the sun, and reinterpret everything.

10. Don’t trust anyone who tries to answer the question with a list of plants that you should just go out and buy, unless they are a local person who knows your land, such as the landscaper from number 9 or the professor from 6, or someone similar.

11. Stay cute at all times. Ticks hate that.

[trenchandwhite]

[herbanwytch]

All of our abundance, all of our food, all of our real wealth and happiness begins and is sustained by our topsoil, our water and these little creatures. No pollinators, no food. It’s that simple. 🌻 🐞 🐝 #Inspiration #Plants #Herbs #hedgewitch #AncientBotanicals #AncientWisdom #bee #xerces #PlantCraft #SacredBeauty #herbalism #gardening #GoBotanical #Botanical #organic #phenology #Creativity #Nature #HandMade #BeautifulFeed #PlantPower #Aromatherapy #rosewitch #abundance #permaculture #crueltyfree https://www.instagram.com/p/BuvubPJAc-q/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=d5z3hzqnexhd

[bloomingflowerbuds]

i just happened to snag some early flowers from the grocery store!! (for 3.99!) It’s very much still snowing where i live, so i’m savoring every bit of spring i can get right now! They’re doing great on my bedstand in front of my windowsill, and they all are blooming more and more everyday! 💗💗💗💖

[hipplibooks]

Plantcraft by Janet Cox (Yerba Buena Press, 1973)