Join the Quiet Rebellion: Small Spaces, Big Impact

Garden design isn’t about perfect rows or manicured lawns. Growing your own food—veggies, herbs, whatever calls to you—doesn’t require wide-open land. What it does require is creativity, a willingness to get your hands in the soil, and the courage and perhaps tapping back into a wild heartedness to begin. I know, because this is what I’ve done: hands in the soil to move myself into well-being and into community.

Planting for pollinators is an act of faith—and always wonder. There’s nothing quite like watching a bee or butterfly arrive, as if called by the bloom. This has happened so much lately with planting. Also, when it comes to well-being, we don’t need to rely solely on the grocery store. We can support farmers’ markets, visit a roadside stall, or join a community garden. These small choices are part of a quiet rebellion—a return to living in rhythm with the earth.

I believe every balcony, every patio, and every container holds the power to reclaim space and nurture life. This isn’t just gardening—it’s a radical act of love and stewardship. Whether you’re tending a single pot or a full yard, your choices matter. They ripple outward, planting the seeds of a movement rooted in connection, ecology, and soulful resistance.

I know I keep returning to this one seed:

We don’t have the luxury of time. Repeat this.

We are time in motion.

The future isn’t out there somewhere—it’s right here, in our choices, our soil-stained hands, and our willingness to start.

And yes, it is hard to start. But you can.

Practical Ways to Start—Where You Are, With What You Have

You don’t need to buy all new containers or start from scratch. Here are a few low-cost, sustainable ways to begin or expand your garden—especially for small spaces:

🌱 Reuse and Repurpose: Check your local Facebook Marketplace, Buy Nothing groups, or neighborhood swaps. I’ve found planters, old baskets, and even wooden crates that make beautiful, rustic containers.

🌱 Thrift Your Garden: Thrift stores are often full of hidden gems—ceramic pots, galvanized tubs, and woven baskets (just line with burlap). With a little imagination, almost anything can become a planter.

🌱 Get Creative with What You Have: Sustainable coffee sacks, burlap bags, and even old canvas totes can hold soil for herbs or shallow-rooted veggies. Punch in some drainage holes, fill with good soil, and you’re good to go.

🌱 Grow What You’ll Use: Start with what you love. A pot of basil, a cherry tomato plant, or a small pollinator mix can go a long way in bringing joy—and function—to your space.

🌱 Use Native Plants: They’re low maintenance, support local pollinators, and adapt better to your environment. Support your local nursery, they will always carry native plants. Or search for nurseries that focus just on natives!

🌱 Water Wisely: Yes, containers do dry out faster—group them together to create a microclimate, and recommend using mulch (even leaf litter) to retain moisture. Also, drip systems, and the ancient and still effective using ollas.

🌿 P.S. You can also start by joining in a free pop-up on August 26th at local Wimberley Gardens, where I'll be sharing more about container gardening—focusing on pollinators, herbs, and veggies— More soon… I’d love to see you there, you quiet garden rebels in the making!

Grounded in gratitude

Christina

One Planter. One Prayer.

My heart tilted. It does this more and more of late—quietly, without warning—when I’m watching a bee hover over a plant that I’m in the process of putting into the soil—yet it’s here already. I marvel. I look around like, does anybody else see this and I seem to be constantly reminded how little it takes to make a difference.

And today, it not only tilted but was a lightning strike of such awareness and focus for the pollinators.

We’re losing them—bees, bumblebees, butterflies, hummingbirds, hummingbird hawk moths, and others that are all the silent magic-makers who pollinate our food, our flowers, and our future. Their habitats have been and are continuing to be paved over, poisoned, or simply forgotten.

But what if I told you that one planter—just one—with pollinator-friendly flowers can make a difference?

At your home. On your porch. Outside your workplace. On the windowsill.

Each planter becomes a rest stop, a bridge, a sacred offering in a living chain of survival. These small, intentional acts become a pathway of hope for pollinators trying to survive in a world that’s moving too fast, or maybe just not understanding it’s time to act.

What are we waiting for? Do we really think things will change without us stepping in? Do we think someone else is coming to fix this? Or that if we wait long enough, the Earth will somehow restore herself without our hands in the soil?

Do you truly believe you can make a difference? Because that belief—that one act matters—is the beginning of all real change. It’s of course not only in this but how we move in our world, and how we show up for ourselves, our family, our community, and the natural world, this Earth our home.

I don’t know about you, but I want magic to stay in the world. And to me, magic looks like coexistence. It feels like soil on your hands, like a bloom opening for a bee, like caring for something beyond ourselves… beyond our walls. Opening our hearts wider.

This week, I invite you to become part of that living spell. Get a planter, or if you are on a budget or keeping sustainably savvy, search for a planter on Marketplace, then head to your local nursery and find a pollinator-friendly plant. Put your hands in the soil, your well-being is going to expand just with this and then even further when you put it outside, knowing that you are gifting nature.

Because planting is a prayer.

And pollinators? They’re the ones carrying it forward.

Grounded in gratitude,

Christina

Hands in the Soil, Soul in the Garden

This week we shift more into soil—though soul is always part of any growing.

Let’s take a look at container gardening. I believe after the twilight year of mandatory staying at home, many people turned to gardening with whatever was available, and where ever they were. It became a focus or purpose—a way to ground ourselves in an upended world, to lift spirits and share in the quiet joy that gardening brings.

Not many of us had the luxury of land to plant in. For many, it was a porch, a balcony, an area out the front or back door. It did not matter. What mattered was to have hands in the soil.

Why a Container Garden?

Container gardening opens up the possibility of growing in limited spaces. Maybe you don’t have time to care for a full garden, or to be part of a community garden, which may not be accessible either in your area. Perhaps physical limitations, like back issues, play a role.

The beauty of containers is flexibility. They can be set at any height; on a wood bench, hung on a wall, clustered in different sizes on the ground. It’s adaptable to your life. And yes, you can still be water-efficient! With the right set-up, containers can support wicking methods that help conserve moisture, especially important in our climate. We’ll journey more in-depth before planting season begins, but know that container gardens can be both beautiful and sustainable.

Container Types

Any container will do. As a plant designer or botanical stylist, I lean into the beautification of any space. I want joy not just in what’s growing, but in the visual poetry of the containers themselves and how they are placed.  

You might start with a basic plastic pot but pull a burlap coffee bean bag over it and tie it off—suddenly it’s a statement. Maybe you’re drawn to shades of terra cotta, or a mix of vintage finds. Perhaps some colorful Talavera planters have found their way to you. Let your garden be a reflection of you.

A very important feature along with beauty, it to ensure you have drainage holes. Though, if you are handy, then you can add them, then test them before planting.

Plant Plan in Place!

Before rushing off to source planters, make sure you have a plant plan in place. Yes, it can be organic and fluid, but the size of the containers matters!

Tomatoes, for example, have deep roots—a 15-gallon container will serve them far better than a 5-gallon one. Broccoli, too, needs depth. Beans or beets, on the other hand, are perfectly happy in smaller 5-gallon pots. Remember—containers don’t have to be round! Rectangular planters are perfect for lettuces, mustard greens, and herbs. Get creative. Trust your intuition.

When We Garden..

When we garden,

we become nature’s growers.

We are a part of a living system.

We are following an ancient path

laid out before us,

where hands have turned the soil

In every corner of the world.

Through this act

we are tied intimately with the land —

and to each other.

A Season to Plant Upon Us

Fall, I believe it truly the best time to plant in Texas. There’s a shift in the air—toward cooler days, a festive season, a different rhythm. Cooler weather brings delicious varieties: leafy greens, root veggies, and hardy herbs. But don’t stop at veggies—include herbs and flowers. In small spaces, beauty is essential. What you plant may also nourish more than you—pollinators, birds, and creatures preparing for winter may all benefit.

Just imagine: if you have your planters, and a few neighbors do too, you’re creating tiny green corridors. Pathways for life. And maybe, just maybe, your gardens connect in other ways—being a steward of someone's garden while their away, trading extra veggies, creating seed banks, or offering a bouquet to a neighbor who needs a lift.

To garden is to nurture.

To provide not only sustenance,

but a reminder of our deep connection—

with nature, and with each other.

Grounded in Gratitude,

Christina