What is Resistance Gardening?
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
Gardening is an act of optimism. It’s belief that over the passage of time, change will come. Plants will flourish. The soil will warm. Seedlings will grow. And goodness will come forth. Resistance Gardening, in short, is finding optimism in the garden when the world feels bleak — and using that optimism to fuel real change beyond your garden, in the world.
I mean, here’s the honest truth: Resistance Gardening is something I just kind of made up. There are others who have used the term before, but it isn’t a clearly-defined thing. However, it’s something I have been thinking about.
Deeply.
A lot.
Since November 6, 2024.
When it became very, very clear that we were headed into another long slog of resisting.
My thoughts are rooted in the Victory Garden and school gardening movements. Gardening as a vehicle for social change. But I’m also influenced by the work of Dr. Doug Tallamy and the Homegrown National Park movement (I am on the map, are you?). Gardening doesn’t have to be Team Veggie vs. Team Flowers. It is both — and both can be acts of resistance.
So what is Resistance Gardening? Gardening in defiance of the status quo.
Gardening in defiance of an administration set upon chaos and pain and pillage.
Gardening in defiance of inequity, misogyny, violence.
And it is Gardening in support of sisterhood, of peace, of growth, of joy.
This is Resistance Gardening. It is the WILD REVIVAL we have been waiting for!
Most of us aren’t lawyers or lawmakers. A lot of us don’t live near Washington DC or even our state capitols. Some of us are introverts or struggle with chronic illness or have little babies or care for elderly parents. Many people don’t feel empowered to strike. They can’t risk losing their jobs and fear the threat of political violence. Our lives can’t stop just because 23% of the US population voted for FOTUS (Yep. With 339.4 million people in this country, the 77.2 million votes he got comes to only 23% of the population who made this choice for us all).
But here’s something we CAN do. We can garden. We CAN garden in a spirit of hope and resistance which will strengthen us in mind, body, and spirit. We CAN improve our lives, improve our ecosystems, and improve our homes, too. And for some of us, this will fuel our abilities to resist in other ways. For some of us, this will be all we can do. And most of us will fall somewhere in the middle.
As a Resistance movement, we Resistance Gardeners recognize a few key ideas (in no particular order):
Beauty is important! Gardening makes our homes more beautiful. And living in a place that is beautiful makes us feel better. It is calming, soothing, and sustaining. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting our homes to be places of respite. We deserve sanctuaries.
Gardening itself is a privilege.
Sharing with our neighbors is a small way of addressing some deep historical inequities.
Sharing may come in many forms: produce and harvests, cuttings and seedlings, labor and teaching, listening and learning.
POC have historically been excluded from gardening culture while simultaneously upholding the agrarian work in the United States for many generations.
Inequities exist in gardening as in every other part of our culture. But as the garden and the farm are linked, those inequities are particularly glaring — both historically and every single day.
Those with privilege have a responsibility to use their resources and privilege to address inequities.
POC voices are critical in the garden, and their shared wisdom and experience are valuable.
Science and gardening go hand-in-hand.
The gardening world is as susceptible to misinformation as any other segment of our free-for-all information sprawl.
We look to and rely on scientists to provide us with reliable, data-driven information to help us make decisions for our own gardens and communities.
Native plants are critical! For a million reasons.
Species collapse is very real. Invertebrates (bugs, slugs, creepy crawlies of all kinds) are in trouble, and without them we have BIG trouble with food production and ecosystem stability.
We can also grow non-native plants. Most of our fruits and vegetables are non-natives. So are a lot of the flowers and ornamental species that we love.
A 70/30 split between native species/cultivars and non-native plants is an ambitious but reasonable goal. This takes time. It takes energy. It takes resources. And it is worthwhile.
Gardening for self-suffiency is an admirable goal, but it is not achievable for most people.
Climate and weather vary widely across North America. There is a very good reason that more than half of the US production of produce happens in one state: California.
Water is a precious commodity.
Time is a precious commodity. Growing food is time-consuming and takes resources.
Our modern life does not lend itself to self-sufficiency growing, and those who do are able to do so because of privileges that others do not have.
Gardening is good for our mental and physical health. And now, more than ever, taking care of our mental health and our bodies is important. Gardening is a gentle, calming way to do both.
Are we going to fix the world’s problems tending our gardens? No. But if we are stronger, we can do more. If we are clear-headed, we have more creative ideas. If we are in community, we can move mountains.
So join me! And let’s define Resistance Gardening — together!
Cheers!
Angela