Working on a series of projects this spring to inundate my region of Philly with action-item-based messaging focused on biodiversity. One of those is a sticker! This is an attempt to break down any emotional barrier to gardening by city dwellers. You don't need a green thumb, ya know? Just try it! - ThreadSky

sarahmackattack.bsky.social • 89 days ago

Working on a series of projects this spring to inundate my region of Philly with action-item-based messaging focused on biodiversity.

One of those is a sticker!

This is an attempt to break down any emotional barrier to gardening by city dwellers. You don't need a green thumb, ya know? Just try it!

Comments

clairebobrow.bsky.social•89 days ago

Love this! 💚

tedhowell.bsky.social•89 days ago

I also dearly want this as a sticker! I'd buy a dozen

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

https://Squidfacts.bigcartel.com

tedhowell.bsky.social•88 days ago

thank you!

treylindsey.com•89 days ago

we're going to be creating a huge garden in our back yard this spring. going to grow most of our veg. also will be a haven for bees and other wildlife (opossum, racoons, snakes, arachnids & amphibians).

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

When I'm working in the community garden, neighbors will come up & be like "Tell me what to do, I don't know ANYTHING about plants" Like you need to be some kind of genius to grow a plant in a pot. I want to make people feel like they can just do it. The stakes are low! Worst case, ya kill a plant.

weecabbage.bsky.social•89 days ago

My mom runs a garden at her elementary school.

Every year, "Wow, how did you do all this?"
"I put seeds in dirt, and somethin grew!"

If you're not trying to turn a profit, it's really that easy!

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

The QR code takes you to https://www.dogoodshit.club/post/planting-native-plants-in-philly which has a detailed explanation of how to get a container garden going with native plants, including some suggestions with species I've gotten to work well in my pots here in the neighborhood where the stickers will be.

davesdogmaggie.bsky.social•89 days ago

Here's a list of some PA natives that can be sown and grown now, that don't need to be cold stratified.

This is one of the companies listed in your link. Not affiliated.

https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds/native-wildflowers/#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_northeast=PA&filter.ss_germination_code_facet=A

bonusparts.bsky.social•89 days ago

Just discovered Do Good Shit. Thanks for all the tips in the blog entries! We've been wondering about native plants for our yard/garden, and did not know about Redbud until I saw your entry. They're only a few miles away from us, so it's a valuable find!

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

These stickers are now up on the Skype a Scientist shop!

https://Squidfacts.bigcartel.com

coleml.bsky.social•89 days ago

I’m in Indiana, but I think some of the concern in killing a plant also comes from wasting money and resources if we fail, since not all natives do as well potted. I am in apartments but had an easier time growing the only 2 years I had access to land with clay soil than any potted soil I can buy.

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

When you're on a budget, my suggestion (depends on whether you're living on concrete or have a proper backyard) is grab a pack of native wildflower seed and chuck them out there and see what happens. A pack of seeds is a couple bucks, all of them won't grow, but hopefully those that do are tough.

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

Whenever I have a container (big pot, trough, whatever) that I don't have something specific growing in, I chuck a pinch of seeds from my big pouch of native PA seeds and water it and hope for the best. Stuff always pops up! I'm not doing anything special

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

You are absolutely right that some species are just not made for that container lifestyle, but some of the plants in the pack are going to be able to handle it and and hopefully be perennial. The first year will be a bloodbath, but then hopefully you'll have some established plants.

brewergnome.bsky.social•89 days ago

I know you're in PA but do you have a place you get your native seed, or do you mix your own, or...?

sockynoob.bsky.social•89 days ago

Or get discounted plants that are dying. 90% of the time they rebound just by being put in the ground.

shouldhavezagged.com•89 days ago

The clay soil is so real. My in-laws live in Clay county and it is aptly named. You could make pots out of the dirt they grow veg in (somehow?!).

shouldhavezagged.com•89 days ago

Do pollinators go up high? My cousin's apartment in South Philly is the second floor of a rowhome. She has a window with a plant shelf. I think it gets sun? It's the window in the space between the houses in the back—that side alley, you know what I mean. I'll badger her if it's doable, LOL.

starbyter.bsky.social•89 days ago

I'm located on the third floor of our building, and we get bees and wasps both outside our windows all the time! (I know this bc our sunroof is old and not maintained, and they crawl in that way rip). I'm sure the 2nd floor is no issue. Gotta make it to their tree nests somehow :)

shouldhavezagged.com•89 days ago

Good to know! Thanks!

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

Oh for sure, they fly all over the place!

sosomanysarahs.bsky.social•89 days ago

This is good work you're doing. I felt so much better about my gardening attempts when I followed some people who like to garden on here and realized that they killed plants all the time, needed to experiment to see what they could grow, had things that just wouldn't work for them, etc.

theparthecraft.bsky.social•89 days ago

Hell, I've done it for a living and still kill my fair share of plants

nicki2910.bsky.social•89 days ago

Ohh, I feel so much better knowing that. Confessions of a fellow plant exterminator.

aheise.bsky.social•89 days ago

My favorite gardener (a neighbor) says he never expects more than about half of his experiments to survive -- which is a good way to set expectations.

aheise.bsky.social•89 days ago

I've gotten some raspberries and an excruciatingly tart cherry tree from him; I think the berries died but the tree is still there, all 12 inches of it. He sometimes puts his extra veg starts on his lawn extension and those are always fun to plunk in the garden.

foodforests4life.bsky.social•89 days ago

sockynoob.bsky.social•89 days ago

YESSSSSSSS. I want this as a sticker, poster, goddamn interstate billboard, etc.

chainingbooks.bsky.social•89 days ago

Thank you for sharing this!! I'm right over the bridge in NJ and I'm going to start researching which gardening stores near me have native plant starters

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

Hell yeah!

ucanbeenative.bsky.social•89 days ago

I love this!!! Nice job! I self published a book on natives that work well in pots, after I sat in on a native gardening class in the city & the teacher focused on homeowners. Many condo/apt dwellers didn’t bother coming to the second class. We have to invite everyone, cause we need everyone!

lnr.bsky.social•89 days ago

Yay.

napoleonicento.bsky.social•89 days ago

I'm stealing this for a talk I'm giving tonight about how No Mow May isn't useful

sarahmackattack.bsky.social•89 days ago

Do itttt

napoleonicento.bsky.social•89 days ago

Done

thesouloftheearth.bsky.social•89 days ago

I’m curious about No Mow May. Why just May? Long time campaigner against lawns here.

napoleonicento.bsky.social•89 days ago

It's when a lot of the common lawn weeds are flowering. But they're all introduced/invasive in the US, so aren't used by most native bee species. The few that do use them are generalists that use other flowers as well

thesouloftheearth.bsky.social•89 days ago

Thank you!

zcnem.bsky.social•89 days ago

I have a more curated native plant list based on site conditions but Extension and PA Sea Grant worked on this statewide guide: https://seagrant.psu.edu/resources/resource-item/choose-native/

Have a Spanish version as well!

joyousvagaries.bsky.social•85 days ago

For Real...Just Do It!🌼🐝🦋💙

lauriestrings.bsky.social•89 days ago

📌

foodforests4life.bsky.social•89 days ago

wearegonnafindout.bsky.social•89 days ago

Featuring a cute shiny sweat bee 🐝 💚😍

mceuen.bsky.social•89 days ago

Brilliant! I want, no, i need this sticker!!! 💚💚🐝

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