Our Land Project
“We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Our mission and purpose with Fist of Flora is simple, to raise awareness for the importance of biodiversity. What is not so simple are the solutions to our diminishing habitats around the world.
Our land project in the mountains of North Carolina is a response to the truth that if we do nothing, nothing will change. We have spent the last ten years cultivating a landscape that supports the whole system’s wellness, literally from the ground up. In no way has this task been easy, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been beautiful. We have seen the return of countless species, from the Great Blue Heron to the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly.
As we struggled to create habitat for the plants and animals we love, our understanding of their importance shifted. We realized their stories needed to be told; without a voice to advocate for them as individuals who would know how critical their roles were?
It has become our passion and joy to help nurture a culture that values our ecology. In a world where you could put a million things on your shirt, why not let it be a call to action for the life that sustains our own?
When you purchase from us, you are supporting our mission to share their stories, to shine a light on their importance, and to continue our habitat restoration project.
In gratitude,
Mary
Creating Conditions for Abundance
Our first year we rented a heavy-duty track hoe and built swales to catch and slow water filtration through the landscape.
We also built three ponds to hold overflow from those swales.
Here is a photo ten years later of the pond shown in construction above. In the second picture you can see the heron who has come to spend her summers fishing here for the last few years. Bats eat bugs and dip in the evenings for a drink, barn swallows hunt above, and amphibians of all kinds call it home.
Filming the Eastern Box Turtle
Our Land Project Photography
All the photographs and videos in our biodiversity gallery as well as throughout our website (except those of birds) were taken by me and are from our land project. My photos and interactions with these species inspire our graphic designs for our t-shirts.
Biodiversity Gallery
At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin
to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done--then it is done and all
the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago. – Frances Burnett
A Culture for Ecology
Our dream at Fist of Flora is to create a culture that values our local ecologies, not simply because they are beautiful, but because without them there will be no life on earth. We want their stories to be seen and heard, from the tiniest insects to the mighty oaks.
Our Blog is our love language.
Learn more about biodiversity and its importance through our blog.
