Only by understanding our past and current relationship with soil can we reflect and change our partnership with soil from extraction and exploitation to respect, relationality and reciprocity.
A mural in St Paul’s, Bristol celebrating the social worker and activist Barbara Dettering.
Steve Taylor ARPS/Alamy
People’s sense of belonging is fostered in everyday social practices and in the spaces they claim for themselves. Our elders need be acknowledged, respected and accepted.
The soil you use for your roses may contain something sinister.
Mariia Boiko/ Shutterstock
Gardening is often seen as a relaxing, harmless pasttime – but that isn’t always the case.
The practice of gardening is deeply tied to colonialism. Here a woman pushes a cart of flowers at her garden centre in Toronto, May 4, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
They tend backyards brimming with cactus varieties, consuming the produce. Prudence Gibson meets a hidden group of gardeners and ponders the allure – and – danger of psychoactive plants.
The greater the diversity of plant and animal species in a wildlife-friendly garden, the more healthy and resilient it is.
(Shutterstock)
Instead of focusing their limited time, energy and finances in effective interventions in their gardens, many individual gardeners are falling prey to greenwashing.
Bradford pear trees in bloom along a driveway in Sussex County, Del.
Lee Cannon/Flickr
Honey bees, wild and native bees face threats from parasites, pesticides and habitat loss. Shorter winters, more extreme weather and more habitat destruction won’t help.
Our study found it wasn’t cafes with access to sugar-rich food that led to more miner aggression. In fact, gardens were where we recorded the highest amount of aggressive behaviour.
Wait for starchy cooking water to cool and then use it to water your plants.
VH-studio/Shutterstock
Rationing water at home will benefit moisture-starved ecosystems.
Trouble in paradise: Disappointments in school and community gardens point to the need for systemic changes in how our society organizes land, labour and resources.
(Mitchell McLarnon)
Gardens require huge labour, and outcomes like health, well-being or food security are affected by systemic barriers people face in cities and schools.