A garden does not live only in what we can see.

Beneath our feet, roots explore the soil. Water moves through pores and channels. Fallen leaves, branches and other organic material begin to decompose. Fungi, insects, worms and countless smaller organisms participate in transforming what has fallen into conditions for new growth.

Some of these relationships become briefly visible when we turn compost, lift mulch, expose a root or notice a fruiting fungus. Much more continues beyond our immediate perception.

In a living garden, the soil is therefore not simply a surface that holds plants upright. It is a changing community of relationships among minerals, organic matter, water, air and living organisms.

These relationships are not necessarily harmonious. Organisms consume, compete, cooperate, disturb and transform. Conditions change with moisture, temperature, season and the ways people care for the ground above.

A commons-based garden asks us to consider these less-visible participants too.

When we mulch, dig, walk, irrigate, compost, plant or leave material to decompose, we are entering relationships with lives and processes we may never completely see.

Perhaps caring for a living place also means learning to recognise that much of what sustains it happens beyond our sight.

‍