Rootiva Garden began on a south-facing balcony in 2021, with two tomato plants in five-gallon buckets and a stubborn idea that a person did not need a half-acre to grow something useful. Four growing seasons later, we are a small editorial journal covering the practical, low-waste, season-friendly side of gardening – the part that does not get a glossy magazine spread but quietly keeps real backyards alive.
What we cover
Our writing sits at the intersection of three things: how to grow well, how to grow gently, and how to grow without buying a new gadget every spring. Six topic areas guide our editorial calendar – water, soil, design, food, pest balance, and beginner habits. Every guide we publish is read by at least two of us before it goes live, tested in a real garden somewhere in zones 6 to 8, and updated as the seasons (and our mistakes) teach us better.
Why “Rootiva”
The name is a small portmanteau: roots, plus “viva,” a quiet borrowed word for life. It is what we wanted from a garden journal – something that pointed downward, into soil, and outward, into ongoing life. The garden is mostly underground anyway, and so is the part that matters most.
Who writes here
Maren Holloway is our editorial lead and the writer of most of what you read. She is a market gardener who has spent the better part of a decade learning what works in clay-heavy Appalachian soil, what fails, and what was probably never going to thrive no matter how stubborn she got about it. She writes the way she gardens – slowly, with a notebook, and with respect for whatever showed up before her.
A small rotation of guest contributors helps with the topics outside her own beds. A pollinator researcher from the Pacific Northwest checks our native-plant pieces. A composting hobbyist in Vermont contributes the cold-climate worm bin work. A balcony grower in Brooklyn writes our small-space pieces. We always credit them by name.
Our editorial standards
We do not publish paid posts. We do not accept gifts in exchange for coverage. We do not write about products we have not used for at least one full growing season. Affiliate links, when we use them, are disclosed at the top of the article and contribute a small amount toward the cost of running the site. Read the full editorial policy for the full account of how we work.
How we got here
The site started as a folder of notes on Maren’s phone. The notes turned into a Substack newsletter, which turned into the journal you are reading. We grew through word of mouth, mostly from friends sharing pieces with their own gardening friends, and through a quietly loyal readership that writes us actual, useful questions every week. We try to write back to most of them.
What you will not find here
Affiliate-stuffed listicles. Twenty-product gift guides. AI-generated nonsense. We have built this journal so that what we publish today is something we would still happily defend in five years. Sometimes that means fewer posts. Often it means slower ones. We think that is the right trade.
Get in touch
If you want to write to us, share a garden question, point out a mistake, or just say hello – the contact page is the best place to start. We read every note, and we try to reply within a working week.
Welcome in.