05 Jun 2025

Letting the Garden Decide

The Gut Moves Outward

In the previous essay, the gut was treated as a sensor array—a system for interpreting food as information. But that system does not exist independently. It is embedded in an environment. And when the inputs remain distorted, the gut cannot function clearly. The signal may still come through, but not without interference.

This essay focuses on what happens when the external system is adjusted to match the internal one. Not by force, but by observation. In practical terms, that means gardening. But not in the decorative or agricultural sense. This is about alignment. About reducing friction. About letting the food system, like the gut, return to its intended shape.

Emergent Gardening

A garden seemed like the obvious next step, but the first attempts were traditional. Raised beds, imported compost, seed packets, planned rows, planting schedules. Some of it worked, and some of it didn’t. But the most consistent, lowest-effort results came from plants that had never been asked to perform on command. Wild volunteers. Self-seeding perennials. Hardy herbs. Edible weeds. These plants grew because the conditions were right, not because someone forced them.

That observation led to a change in approach. Stop tilling. Stop fertilizing. Stop clearing everything. Let things grow and see what survives. Remove only what seems aggressive or genuinely disruptive. Encourage what grows in balance.

This method is sometimes called no-dig gardening or regenerative gardening, but in this case, it emerged on its own, out of observation rather than doctrine. A few examples:

A patch of oregano spread out naturally over three seasons, crowding out grass and growing dense with minimal care.
Garlic left in the ground from the year before began sprouting again in spring. The scapes were edible before any bulbs formed.
A mint plant, initially invasive, found equilibrium once shaded by hop vines climbing a fence post.

None of this was planned, but all of it became usable. This approach is now referred to in these notes as "emergent gardening": a strategy that builds outward from what the land wants to do, not what the gardener wants to impose.

The Gut Reflects the Ground

The body responded in parallel. As outdoor effort became more observational, the internal system stabilized further. Less effort went into managing symptoms. Cravings reduced. Meals became simpler. Bitter greens became available almost year-round. Garlic and oregano added antimicrobial and antifungal compounds directly into daily cooking¹. Morning walks to check plant growth replaced screen time or idle eating.

This is not presented as a cure. It is a systems alignment. When the external input system (food) simplifies and improves, the internal system (digestion, inflammation, energy regulation) often becomes more efficient without direct intervention². This does not eliminate the need for diagnostic care or precision when symptoms are acute, but it supports baseline function over time.

Less Input, Less Noise

Both systems—the one in the soil and the one in the gut—benefit from fewer interruptions. Noise, in this case, means unnecessary or disruptive inputs. Excess sugar, alcohol, ultra-processed oils, chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides. Each creates a form of friction in a biological system. Simplification does not mean minimalism. It means relevance. Keep what serves. Remove what doesn’t.

A human digestive system is not designed to interpret synthetic compounds². Nor is a patch of soil designed to rely on external inputs indefinitely³. In both cases, the system becomes dependent, then weakened. Remove the dependency, and performance often returns, although it may take a season.

Participate, Don't Manage

Letting the garden decide is not passive. It is responsive. It is a shift from control to participation. The gardener pays attention, recognizes patterns, and intervenes only when necessary. The same applies to the person eating from that garden.

This approach supports longer-term health because it removes friction rather than adding effort. It does not require constant optimization. It requires observation and adjustment. Over time, the system stabilizes.

Food grown under these conditions tends to be higher in polyphenols, bitter compounds, and microbial diversity¹˒³. These compounds support gut health directly, particularly in areas like motility, immune modulation, and microbial balance⁴.

This is not theoretical. It has been measured.

References

Birt, D. F., Hendrich, S., & Wang, W. (2001). Dietary agents in cancer prevention: flavonoids and isoflavonoids. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 90(2-3), 157-177.
Lucas, K., Maes, M. (2013). Role of the gut microbiota in the regulation of inflammatory and neuroendocrine responses. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 16(6), 615-620.
Gopalakrishnan, S. et al. (2018). The root microbiome of plants: a critical player in nutrient cycling. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 759.
Selhub, E.M., Logan, A.C., & Bested, A.C. (2014). Fermented foods, microbiota, and mental health: ancient practice meets nutritional psychiatry. Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 33(1), 2.
Aktar, M. W., Sengupta, D., & Chowdhury, A. (2009). Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards. Interdisciplinary Toxicology, 2(1), 1–12.