The Revolution Will Not Be Fertilized

Growing up, mowing the lawn was my most despised chore. Our house sat on about a half acre and mowing this section wasn’t too difficult, but right next to our house sat a large vacant lot that couldn’t pass a percolation test, so the developers left it empty and made it the future adjacent homeowner’s problem. Ours.

We referred to it simply as “the field,” and mowing it was a bitch. Round and round, under the blistering Georgia sun with no shade in sight; on a loud, shaking, stinking mower; my compact-disc player skipping with every bump.

After years of this torture, I vowed as an adult that lawn care would be the one chore I would always hire someone to do, and I did. I either lived in apartments, or I hired a lawn service to come by every two weeks. For years, I moved through my life without getting too up close and personal with my outdoor habitat. I put plants in containers I half-heartedly watered and never fed. My encounters with nature were arranged and I sought its company in sanctioned spaces, and at proper distances, such as a hiking trail in a park. But, that is “vacation” nature. It is the difference between shoveling snow and skiing.

But, over the past several years, I became less and less grateful for the chore I was being liberated from, and more and more annoyed by the noise, the dust, and the collateral damage. The big truck and trailer would pull up, and before I could get shoes on, three men with loud, smelly mowers, blowers, and whackers, would descend upon my lawn with apocalyptic fury.

In fifteen minutes they were gone, and so was everything else. Unless it was surrounded by a bed of store-bought mulch that clearly said, “I am here for a reason,” it was likely gone. The owner always replaced anything lost, but it became a hassle and I grew annoyed with it. 

Things could finally be different this year. I own my home now, so there are no landlords or property managers to deal with and I don’t have an HOA. I bought a small battery-powered push mower and blower and they’ve worked fine. But, I hope that in a few years, maybe even next year, I won’t really need these either.

This year, I committed to giving half of my yard back to nature in an act of restorative kindness, or ARK (not affiliated with Moses or his boat). It isn’t much. I have about a 1/4 of an acre and it is already fenced, so it can’t be truly rewilded. But, I can create spaces for native plants and pollinators, as well as habitats for other small creatures and insects.

The truth is that uniform green lawns and vibrant blooms of ornamentals may look alive, but they are comparatively dead. Lawns are the #1 irrigated crop in America, and they feed no one and nothing. Plus mowers guzzle gas and pollute the air.

An ARK can be as small as a window box with native plants for pollinators to take a pit stop between larger meals. Anyone can participate and even the smallest ARK to us is a lush oasis to an exhausted and hungry urban insect.

The “We Are the Ark” Movement

Mary Reynolds founded the movement known as “We Are The Ark” in an effort to restore natural, native, wild habitats with the goal and purpose of increasing biodiversity with our gardens rather than simply pleasing our senses. She says that “gardens are part of an old world,” and we must focus on restoring native ecosystems and adding extra support for creatures large and small to replenish their populations. 

Once I discovered Mary and waited for her book to arrive, I listened to her tell her story on a few gardening podcasts. In her gentle Irish accent, she recounts noticing a strange sight outside her window one morning. A small fox runs by, and behind him, two hares. Then, bewilderingly, a family of hedgehogs.

Curious as to this strange reversal of the natural order, she investigates to find the lot across the way is being clear-cut. The new owners of a vacant lot brought in the excavators and took everything down to bare dirt, evicting dozens, if not hundreds of creatures. The foxes, hares, and hedgehogs were lucky refugees. 

The “We Are the Ark” movement is a grassroots effort to restore biodiversity in a patchwork fashion. To be part of this movement, all you have to do is simply give back half of the land under your control to nature, and ideally, use the other half to grow food. By giving it back, you simply stop mowing and let native weeds take over, and remove invasives.

She asks that you put a self-made sign in your ARK identifying its purpose and linking to the website. This takes the shame out of letting your lawn become overgrown and turns it into a positive act of environmental justice. You may even inspire someone to do it, too.

In We Are The Ark: Returning Our Gardens to Their True Nature Through Acts of Restorative Kindness, the aims of ARKing, as well as additional actions you can take to increase biodiversity in your community, are explained in detail along with gorgeous illustrations.

The ARK movement has radical potential to transform not only our landscapes but our food system and the biodiversity that sustains it. By giving back half of our land to nature, we create living patches of native ecosystems that nurture pollinators, enrich the soil, and support a diverse web of life. By growing some of our own food, we send a message to agribusiness that we reject inflated prices for poisoned foods grown and harvested by exploited workers and sold half a world away from where they were picked.

The Radical Potential of Rewilding Your Spaces

It can be that simple. Doing nothing from now on, unless you want to grow some food, too. It begs the question of how we got here and it isn’t an accident.

Over hundreds of years (yes, hundreds, this didn’t happen that long ago) and by many different empires, the people lost the land. What was once common became private, and what was once gathered and used freely, or at least cooperatively, became inventoried.

On top of this, we’ve poisoned our soils and waters with pesticides, resulting in the loss of nearly half of our global insect population in the past 45 years. The impact of Anthropocene efforts on marine life are still unknown, but only because we’ve yet to identify half the species in our oceans. We don’t even know what we are losing.

Pesticides are only part of the problem, albeit a very large and dangerous part. Insects need food and shelter too, and that is also disappearing. Each year, they have fewer places to eat and even fewer places to breed. Many species have a very narrow range of plants they or their larvae can eat and their foraging excursions are useless as native grasses and plants are doused with chemicals, pulled up, and replaced with turf.

What we plant, how we plant, and where we plant reflect deeper inequalities in terms of access to land and resources. Here in the U.S., we must acknowledge that the land we live on is stolen and cash crop culture has its roots in chattel slavery. Beyond this, Black Americans have lost over 90% of the land they once owned. Returning stolen lands and reparations are part of the healing process.

By choosing to grow native plants, resist pesticides, share seeds, and simply let nature do its thing, you can challenge the extractive capitalist mindset that tries to control and profit from every square inch of earth. You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to buy anything.

Native plants require no fertilizers, less water, and actively contribute to soil restoration, rather than further depleting it. These plants are uniquely adapted to the ecosystems they’ve evolved in, meaning they can thrive in local conditions without the need for chemical intervention.

Unlike many ornamental species or lawns, which rely heavily on fertilizers to maintain their appearance, native plants are accustomed to the natural nutrient cycles of their region. Over time, they have developed symbiotic relationships with the soil and local microorganisms, drawing the nutrients they need from organic matter and natural processes. Introducing synthetic fertilizers can disrupt these systems and potentially harm beneficial soil organisms.

Native plants have evolved deep root systems that can access water far below the surface, allowing them to survive with minimal irrigation. This characteristic makes them ideal for regions prone to drought or for gardeners seeking to conserve water. Their extensive roots improve soil structure by breaking up compacted areas and enhancing the soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients.

Over time, native plants improve soil fertility and support the growth of beneficial microorganisms. They also help prevent erosion, as their roots stabilize the soil, reducing runoff and the loss of valuable topsoil during heavy rains.

Gardening, if we even call it that anymore, becomes an act of reclamation, a way to take back our power, and nurture the ecosystems that will nurture us back.

My First ARKs

This year, I established my first ARKs, purely out of accident. After I canceled my lawn service, I just let things grow for a bit, particularly around the edges of my yard, and watched with curiosity at what emerged.

The first bit that I let go wild looked like it had been a pile of turf, dug up and left in a pile, right next to a striking lavender bush. Unfortunately, the lavender took a serious hit the winter after we moved in (2022-2023) and temperatures dropped to below zero. I also lost a majestic row of rosemary bushes to this freeze.

Around the lavender now grow native grasses and wildflowers. Virginia buttonweed, mock strawberry, Virginia three-seed mercury, broomsedge, and even a wild blackberry vine appeared on this old heap.

My favorite discovery has been wild violet, or viola sororia. This gorgeous perennial groundcover grows purple flowers in the spring and is an excellent pollinator for many native bees and flies.

They also serve as a preferred nesting spot for butterflies, and all parts of the plant are edible. I haven’t tried the flowers yet, but I ate the greens when they were young and tender with beets and goat cheese (yum!).

My second ark runs along my fence and this one is my favorite. This area grows the most punk-rock-looking plants ever. I love the stems on this red maple, the hot pink tips of this Oriental Lady’s-thumb, and the luscious lady fern. The Virginia Three-seed mercury takes on a blue-ish hue latein the season, and pokeweed (not-pictured) hangs with dark ripe berries on fuschia stems. It is the loudest corner of my yard, always humming with the chirps of crickets.

Putting the ‘grass’ back in ‘grassroots’

The potential of ARKs to rebuild native habitats, restore ecosystems, and promote community-driven food production is enormous. By dedicating parts of our own yards, public spaces, or even abandoned lots to nature, we create not just havens for wildlife but fertile ground for localized, sustainable food systems.

Imagine neighborhoods dotted with ARKs, each contributing to a larger patchwork of mini-ecosystems, where neighbors can share seeds, harvests, and knowledge, creating a hyper-local food network. This grassroots approach can reduce our reliance on industrial agriculture, shorten food supply chains, and foster a stronger connection to the land and each other. ARKs can transform not only landscapes but also how communities come together to grow, eat, and care for their environments, encouraging cooperation and food sovereignty in a system that often prioritizes profit over people.