March 2023 DIRT NERD THE MAGICAL FRUIT Duh. It’s beans. And I have moderately controversial opinions about them. I think “Southern peas” are not worth growing in the Southern home garden. As... Ian Willson
February 2023 DIRT NERD MEDITATIONS ON LIMINALITY AT THE END OF THE WORLD OR WHAT IS A VEGETABLE? The End of The World Liminal. It was very much a buzzword in 2022, though it didn’t make the top 10... Ian Willson
December 2022 DIRT NERD DIRT TO DIRT Planting Zone 9, which includes New Orleans, occupies a very special space between life and death and the very meaning of those words in the plant universe. Just... Ian Willson
November 2022 DIRT NERD PICKING PROPER PLANTS There you are, chomping at the bit to exist outside capitalism, so utterly once and for all convinced that money is an illusion perpetuated only by our... Ian Willson
October 2022 DIRT NERD GARDEN COMMUNITY So you want to control your garden? You want it to do what you want it to do, to perform for you the way you always dreamed it would when you sat back on your... Ian Willson
June 2022 DIRT NERD WE ARE NOT COMPANIONS A Q&A with the Three Sisters Beans, corn, and squash: Has there been a more transcendent trio in the history of the alimentary universe? This month I sit... Ian Willson
May 2022 DIRT NERD MY PASSION IS HERPES: A Q&A With Lemon Balm Far from a staple in the garden, but certainly not an unfamiliar name to even the most casual gardener, I myself have been... Ian Willson
April 2022 DIRT NERD Dinosaurs are Forever: A Q&A with Lacinato kale Lacinato kale, a long time favorite vegetable of mine, is unique unto itself in a plant family that many of us depend on for so... Ian Willson
December 2021 DIRT NERD CITRUS: YOUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT Fruits are a privilege and a pleasure to have ready access to in this world. We are lucky to live in a time where all year long fruits both... Ian Willson
November 2021 DIRT NERD GOING TO GROUND Rarely has stability, from a universal standpoint or from an individual perspective, been anything more than a fleeting idea that presents itself for mere moments... Ian Willson
September 2021 DIRT NERD VEGETABLES IS MURDER I believe plants feel things the way we feel things, that they experience joy and pain and sadness and pleasure, and that they do so in a way that we don’t... Ian Willson
July 2021 DIRT NERD WEED (PART II) As the summer sun summons ever more vegetal monstrosities from their slumber deep beneath our unassuming soils, this month we continue our exploration into some of... Ian Willson
