My heart sank. The head of my spade tapped against a sheet of Visqueen (a brand of polyethylene plastic sheeting frequently used for weed control). Darn, I thought I had gotten it all.

I came inside and asked my husband if he could help me remove it.

He looked at me, half smiling because he already knew my answer, and asked, “Karli, why can’t we just leave it there?”

I had set out this afternoon to plant my new Garrya fremontii, an evergreen native shrub that thrives in dry shade in mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest, and was surprised to find yet another sheet of Visqueen about four inches beneath the soil. It had to come out.

I told him how we can’t leave it, because Visqueen is plastic that doesn’t break down or become part of the soil. It blocks water, air, and all the life happening underground, and over time it just fragments into microplastics that stick around. Pulling it out protects the soil long term. That’s really what ecological gardening is about — restoring how soil functions and letting natural processes do what they’re meant to do. He nodded knowingly, changed his clothes, and we got to work.

By the time it was ready to pull up, we were both calling it the fun part with smiles on our faces, knowing we’d done something good for the Earth, for this small patch of land in our care.

We’ve spent almost a decade restoring the soil and practicing land stewardship here. This is the traditional homeland of the Clackamas people, and remembering that adds another layer of meaning and responsibility to the work of stewarding this land well, honoring the relationship we share with the Earth and the reciprocity that exists within it.