The Wyld Wyrtweard: a wild keeper of plants
Wyld is an old-fashioned spelling of “wild.” Wyrtweard is an Old English word for a gardener: wyrt means a plant or herb, and weard means a keeper or guardian. Together, I think of The Wyld Wyrtweard as “the wild keeper of plants.”
It fits what I’m doing here: summoning plants and wild things in my suburban backyard.
Hello!
I garden near Nashville, Tennessee, in USDA Zone 7b. My garden is a suburban backyard with a hill, limestone, stubborn vines, and houses on both sides of mine.
I started this garden because I wanted to do more with the space I have: grow food, create habitat, and turn more of the yard into something productive. I want a garden that feeds me and also makes room for the creatures who were already here.
There are practical parts, raised beds, fences, compost, and figuring out where everything will fit, but there’s also the pleasure of finding a tiny seedling or a frog tucked under the leaves.
Old-time greens and everyday food
Some of my favorite experiments involve plants you don’t often find in the grocery store. I’m growing or trying my hand at old kitchen garden plants such as lamb’s lettuce, orach, miner’s lettuce, chervil, rampion, and skirret.
They share space with spinach, tatsoi, mizuna, chives, and root vegetables. I like the idea of bringing some of these less familiar foods into an ordinary backyard and eventually into my kitchen.
I’ve been vegetarian since 1998, so growing things I can actually eat is a big part of the appeal.
A little backyard orchard
Along the fence, I’m building a small orchard with columnar apple and peach trees, Chicago Hardy figs, and a dwarf mulberry, with raspberries and blackberries nearby. I’m also attempting to grow pawpaw trees.
Right now, much of orchard keeping involves watering, watching, and protecting things from hungry visitors. But I love imagining these little trees becoming an established part of the yard, with fruit to pick just outside the door.
The wild things belong here, too
Frogs, raccoons, skunks, opossums, birds, and a groundhog family are all part of life here. Sometimes that means delight; sometimes it means discovering that somebody (looking at you Ms Groundhog) has eaten the mulberry leaves again.
I use fencing to protect the food garden while leaving room elsewhere for wildlife. Leaves, fallen branches, quiet corners, and the pond all have a place. I’m also turning a shady section of the hill into a woodland flower and fern garden while leaving another area largely alone.
I don’t need every inch to look tidy. I want it to be alive.
Planning with ChatGPT and learning in the dirt
I use ChatGPT as a planning companion. It helps me work through bed layouts, planting ideas, spacing, seasonal tasks, and the many questions that turn up when a backyard becomes an ongoing project. It also saves me time from consulting dozens of websites that all have annoying ads.
Then I take those ideas outside and see how they work with my actual soil, shade, weather, and wildlife. Plans change. Plants surprise me. Sometimes the groundhog has an opinion.
This site is where I’m keeping the story: what I plant, what grows, what struggles, and what I learn along the way.
Welcome to my little patch of somewhat contained chaos.