Community Steward
Useful writing on growing food, preserving it, sharing it, and keeping more life local.
9/17/2026
You do not need a big yard or a master gardener's skill to feed the bees and butterflies. This plain guide covers how to pick pollinator-friendly plants, why native plants matter most, how to keep blooms coming through the season, and why skipping pesticides is the single most important thing you can do.
9/13/2026
Companion planting works through a handful of real mechanisms: nitrogen shared by legumes, ground cover and shade, physical support for climbers, and trap crops or flowers that steer pests where you want them. This plain guide explains those mechanisms, walks through the classic Three Sisters of corn, beans, and squash, and shows how to tell genuinely useful pairings from folklore that has been copied book to book for a century.
9/1/2026
Late summer and early fall is the best time to start a pollinator garden. The soil is still warm and native perennials put their energy into roots instead of top growth. This guide covers picking a spot, planting for season-long blooms, avoiding nursery plants treated with neonicotinoids, and adding simple habitat that helps your own vegetables and fruit set better.
8/28/2026
You do not need to rewild the whole yard to help pollinators. A single corner that offers three things, flowers through the season, places to nest, and a break from sprays, does real work. This article covers what to plant, the nesting habits people forget, and the two or three habits that matter more than the exact plant list.
8/23/2026
Spring is the crowded time to plant. Fall is when wildflowers get planted without a fight: regional seed, a clean seedbed, and a light hand-sow before the ground freezes.
8/20/2026
Most companion planting charts are folklore copied from book to book. A handful of pairings have real, explainable benefits. Here is how to tell them apart and where to start.
8/18/2026
You do not need a meadow or a big yard to support pollinators. A few reliable plants planted in the right order keep bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects feeding from spring through fall, and your vegetable garden benefits from it too.
6/3/2026
You do not need a big yard to support pollinators. You need the right plants planted in the right sequence. This guide covers which native plants work in Zone 7a, how to arrange them for continuous bloom, and how to set up even a small space as a feeding ground for wild bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
5/17/2026
You do not need to own land or grow a garden to add wild food to your table. Six common plants in eastern Tennessee are safe, easy to identify, and ready to harvest this spring.
5/15/2026
Planting the right native flowers along your garden edges attracts bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that make your tomatoes, squash, and berries actually produce fruit.
4/28/2026
See what's available on the [community table board](/board) — someone nearby might have flower seeds, bee hive splits, or native plants to help you build your pollinator garden....