About

Hi, I'm Ashli!

If you've ever found yourself standing in front of a seed rack thinking, "Why are there 17 kinds of carrots?" ...same.

A few years ago, I walked into a garden center, grabbed a bunch of seed packets that looked fun, and thought that was it.

Turns out, that wasn't actually a great strategy.

Some of those seeds weren't even in the right season. Some of them needed way more space than I had at home, and some of them weren't going to do well where I lived, which made me kind of wonder why they would sell them anyway, but that's neither here nor there.

The point is, nobody told me that before I bought them, and that started to get so incredibly frustrating. To the point where I remember thinking to myself, "Why is this so complicated?"

Not gardening.

Buying the seeds.

I did not enjoy spending all that money on packets that I never got to use, and I definitely didn't want to stand in the middle of a garden center Googling every variety before I put it in my cart.

So I started learning and researching. A lot.

And, to be honest, I may have slightly overcorrected.

But, throughout the process and along the way, I started sharing what I was learning online. I found an incredible little community of gardeners and realized I wasn't the only one asking these questions.

So here we are. I ended up building the seed shop I wish I could've found when I first got started.

I wanted to make a place where you can figure out what seeds actually make sense for your garden and what to do with them once you get home.

Now, listen.

I don't know everything, and I'm still learning. I learn something new all the time.

But I am willing to do the research so you don't spend your Saturday wondering whether the difference between two lettuce varieties actually matters.

If I can save you a few wasted seed packets, a couple hours of Googling, and at least one "Well... that was a waste of money." moment, I'd call that a win.

So... why the name?

When I first got into gardening, I legitimately convinced myself that everything had to be done perfectly. I spent so many hours researching everything before planting a single seed because I was so terrified of messing up.

Fun fact: I tend to overthink things.

Then I started talking to other gardeners on the internet. They all had flourishing gardens. Their plants looked so healthy.

Guess what they told me?

The good folks on the internet were literally like, "I just throw stuff in the ground and see what happens."

Y'all...

That messed me up so bad. It completely broke my brain.

I loved that concept for them, but the thought of doing it myself truly freaked me out. After a while though, I realized chaos gardening kind of has its benefits if you let yourself embrace it.

Now, before you panic, I'm not saying planning doesn't matter. It definitely does, but eventually it get's to a point, you know? I realized I was spending so much time trying to garden perfectly that I wasn't actually gardening.

So one day I was like, "You know what? Forget it."

I planted the seeds. Some stuff turned out great. Some stuff decided I needed to be humbled real quick.

But one thing I can say is I have way more fun in my garden than I ever did stressing myself out, staring at articles trying to figure out the "right" way to do things.

And that's where Sow Chaotic came from.

Not because I think gardening should be a chaotic process, but because I think way too many of us wait until we feel like we know everything before we ever begin.

Me personally, I still research. Probably more than most people.

But I've learned there comes a point where you have to close the tabs, put the phone down, and plant your seeds.

The rest, you'll figure it out as you grow.

Grow something.