A little experiment I've been running that has gone surprisingly well. It's about my Instagram Avatar and follows.
Last edited Tue May 5, 2026, 11:14 PM - Edit history (1)
Lots of you know I am a gardening author, focusing on heirloom tomatoes and strawbale and container gardening. This "career" has been going for me since around 2014 (when my first book came out) - with my main desire being educating gardeners (and creating more gardeners), I've dabbled in social networking - formerly FB and Twitter (both of which I quit years ago), more recently Instagram.
It is a tricky road to walk - I do a lot of talks (now, mostly Zoom) - and my former feeling was to not alienate gardeners or cause issues. Well of course, the time we find ourselves in is beyond belief, so I decided to try something - change my Instagram avatar to a No Kings picture - and add Democrat and Liberal to my profile. I do weekly 45 minute Instagram Live from my garden and always suspected I have a mix of political views among my followers.
What I've been delighted with - when I put the avatar on and made it clear where I stand, I had a little over 14K followers. It's been nearly a month - and I still have a little over 14K followers - as well as quite a few people sending messages that they appreciated me being clear about my feelings.
So - that is just one little indicator that there may be a glimmer of hope after all. I firmly believe that the sick maga cult is firmly in the minority, and likely shrinking.
BTW - my IG handle is @nctomatoman
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My problem is that in North Texas, straw is surprisingly difficult to come by. Lots of hay - but not so much straw. I've been exploring hydroponics with rock wool as the medium. The in-ground soil I have is awful gray clay. It was probably a cotton farm at one time. The amendments would cost more than my home. I did manage an entire yard of okra a few years back, until my wife told me she was sick of it. 
