Are you ready for a WILD REVIVAL?

I have been blogging for a LONG time — and writing even longer. So this is a new iteration of something I love. Until very recently I was known as Mid Modern Mama, but for the last six months or so, I have been on a rebranding journey.

All of that said: I shifted to gardening content a long time ago, and now my new brand and handles — Wild Revival Gardening — reflect that!

Phew!

With the ever-shifting social media landscape and the insecurities facing our planet right now, it’s time for a WILD REVIVAL in so many ways!

So, what is a WILD REVIVAL? And how is gardening a form of resistance?

Well, let’s get started…

First, and foremost, a WILD REVIVAL is beautiful! Surrounding ourselves with beauty feeds our souls. Connecting with nature is beautiful. And we shouldn’t have to go on vacation or go for a drive to connect with nature. If you lay out a banquet of plants and flowers, and then just sit… you will make a connection. Sure, the Rocky Mountains are majestic, and the beaches of Florida are beautiful, but have you ever watched a hummingbird drink deeply from a flower that you have grown? Or counted the number of bees hovering in the afternoon sun? Or watched a fox roll around in a patch of clover? That is a WILD REVIVAL.

A WILD REVIVAL is local. It takes over your home. It invites flora to your doorstep — maybe even inside. And the fauna follow, drawn by the feast you have prepared. A WILD REVIVAL creeps up on you until you suddenly find yourself reveling in the creepy, crawly things that you used to squish — catching a spider and walking it outside, expertly trapping a moth and releasing her knowing that she is both pollinator and food for bears.

This WILD REVIVAL will look different in your garden than it will in mine. You may have lots of space. I have a slightly smaller-than-average suburban lot — but that may be a LOT bigger than many of you who garden in a city or on a patio or a balcony or on a community garden plot. But a WILD REVIVAL isn’t about cookie-cutter sameness. It’s the opposite! A WILD REVIVAL is about growing where you are, with what you have.

A WILD REVIVAL transforms. Slowly your yard becomes a garden. It is no longer that-place-out-there — a noun. Yard. Something to be measured, mowed, beaten into submission. It metamorphoses into a verb. Garden. TO Garden. The garden is a place of action and relaxation. It is a place to meet, to play, to putter, to create. It offers shade and scent and taste and touch. It may be small, but the word — GARDEN — offers a chalice of nectar and beckons you to drink, deeply. The WILD REVIVAL transforms that place into a sanctuary for you, for your family and friends, and for the wildlife around you.

But within that space, you will be transformed as well. For the WILD REVIVAL is within. It is a revival of creativity — found in the deep, cool soil. It is a revival of compassion — kindled by birdsong and ladybugs. It is a revival of spirit — bathed in the waters of ponds and hosebibs and rain barrels, cleansed in tears and sweat. It is a revival of joy — fed by tender dill sprigs and precious carrot roots, sweetened by sunshine and the delight of rains. It is a revival of YOU. A forging and transformation into that deep and rich wild one — that GARDENER.

So if you find yourself in need of a WILD REVIVAL, you are in the right place. We are going to learn together, support one another, relish in our joys, problem solve, take action. AND we will GARDEN, together.

That brings us to the Resistance. This is Resistance Gardening.

Gardening to support pollinators and native bees is Resistance.

Gardening to feed your family so you don’t have to shop at a monopoly-owned grocery store is Resistance.

Gardening with native plants to nourish native wildlife is Resistance.

Gardening to create beauty in a world that promotes chaos is Resistance.

Gardening while listening to music rather than doomscrolling is Resistance.

Gardening and relishing the fresh air that others want to pollute without impunity is Resistance.

Gardening with firewise plants and practices, protecting yourself in an ever-warming world is Resistance.

Gardening without peat-filled products so peat bogs aren’t destroyed is Resistance.

Gardening to relish the warmth of the sun on your face…
Gardening to drink in the perfume of the Sweet Pea...
Gardening to cut an abundance of flowers for your breakfast table…

Gardening to feel joy, to laugh, to love — that is Resistance.

In the film The Last Jedi the aptly-named character, Rose, says: "That's how we're gonna win. Not fighting what we hate. Saving what we love."

Well, damn it, I love this planet. I love this country. And I love my little piece of it — every mouse and bee and seedling and bug (except the Japanese Beetles — they can just f@ck off). And I am going to garden to protect them. To protect my family. And to guard my heart and my mind. That is my WILD REVIVAL.

Who’s in?