You Grow Girl

I was in the bathtub soaking up the warmth while listening to my special playlist. It’s comprised of songs that I like to sing along with, that for whatever reason make me happy. Some of the so...

https://gaylatrail.com/the-brain-that-changes/

When I was a kid we did a couple of road trips to western Ontario to visit my stepfather’s maternal relations. His family were evangelical, and that’s how I was raised. I went to Sunday schoo...

https://gaylatrail.com/here-at-home-with-my-kitchen-window-spider/

Here’s a few ways that I use plants from the garden that might inspire some ways for you to use yours.

https://gaylatrail.com/garden-tinctures-infusions-more/

In the summer of 2020 I took a DNA test through Ancestry. There were a few things that I hoped to accomplish with the test: to find out which African countries were in my DNA (mostly Nigeria); to...

https://gaylatrail.com/you-in-others/

One year ago today we spotted our first snake in the garden bed out front: an Eastern Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). I love snakes, particularly Eastern Garters. Growing up in the early 8...

https://gaylatrail.com/where-are-the-snakes/

There were not many gardens in my childhood, and the few that come to mind are not exactly traditional. This fact threw me off for many of my early years as a garden writer. That I did not have a...

https://gaylatrail.com/scyllas-potatoes/

I am dependant. The truth is that none of us are independent. However, I am more dependant than most. This is one of the hardest parts of my illness to confront, in part because I grew up in an a...

https://gaylatrail.com/on-dependency/

This morning I was reading on @decolonisethegarden an Instagram account created by Sui, about callously offensive & divisive remarks steeped in racial bias that were made by a co-chair of the UK ...

https://gaylatrail.com/decolonize-garden-media/

On International Women’s Day we celebrate women who inspire us, who accomplish great things. Women we look up to. I’m not going to do that. Instead, I am going to recognize the women who shap...

https://gaylatrail.com/womens-day/

Have you heard of aphantasia? It wouldn’t be surprising if you haven’t since the name was only coined in 2015. Aphantasia is the inability to create mental images in your mind. The concept ha...

https://gaylatrail.com/aphantasia/