What Is Chaos Gardening? A Lesson in Letting Go and Growing

I just googled it, and apparently chaos gardening is defined as mixing seeds and scattering them.

I have done that for sure.

But when I say chaos gardening, I mean I plant things randomly with little research and then I wait to see what happens.

I take note of the sunlight, water, etc., but I also take it a step further.

Can I propagate it?

Can I harvest seeds?

Will it also grow over here?

I tackle life this way too.

I just dig a hole and throw things in to see what happens.

Some seeds grow or don’t.

Some start and then die.

Others bloom.

And some grow into giant plants I didn't know were possible.

My marigolds, for example.

When I planted them, I didn't know what they were. I just had 12 of the same plant that I received from my local nursery.

Backstory worth mentioning: the owner and I traded. I made her shirts for her family reunion, and in return, I got to pick out a bunch of free plants!!

Recommend the barter system if you can!

Anywayyy, I lined one side of my garden with them.

Each a little stem, leafy green with a single yellow bud.

Soon I had raising the bar.

The plants in the shade under my giant bush did okay, but the further from the shade into the sun, they erupted with blooms.

I am still in awe every time I walk by and see that they have once again, somehow, gotten bigger!!

My “actual garden,” where I try to grow food, is less organized.

I planted random seeds and starters everywhere, and some veggies began growing that I didn't even plant.

I.e. summer squash that took over my strawberries, blueberries, and took out so many pepper plants.

I now know pineapple sage and lemon balm grow like weeds and can grow to be as tall as me!! Who knew?!

And honestly, this is how I have started to tackle life too.

When I first moved in, there was no garden.

Second year, I made some small attempts.

Third year, Spencer created giant garden beds, and still, I was scared to start.

Fourth year, that changed.

Mostly because I changed.

This year, I have been all about just going for it, doing it, and seeing what happens.

I am not saying it is easy.

But I am saying that the more I tried, the more I allowed myself to accept whatever I learned from the experience.

And that is what I think gardening and life have in common.

You can sit and research to “learn” everything you need to know so you can do it “right.”

You can research the perfect place to plant something.

The perfect amount of water.

The perfect amount of sunlight.

The perfect time to start.

Or...

You can start small and let the experience teach you.

I didn't even realize this connection until I started thinking about this year's chaos gardening.

I had just shared about a similar topic on a podcast last week, and suddenly I realized I was literally doing the thing I had been talking about.

Trying.

Experimenting.

Seeing what happens.

Learning from it.

And trying again.

So, if you want to hear more about that conversation, go listen to the past episode HERE .

To be clear, I am not promoting irresponsible gardening, as some plants can be dangerous, and definitely do not eat anything before you research it.

I am saying, try planting a literal and metaphorical seed and just see what happens.

At worst, nothing.

At most, your garden and you are erupting with blooms you didn't even imagine to be possible.

Somewhat Congruent with aparently green thumbs,

Candice