My product is my garden

I like these thoughts from Herman Martinus (the creator of Bear) a lot.

During the early days of lockdown, my girlfriend got deep into gardening. She would spend hours nurturing her tomato plants, weeding, watering, puttering about. She would spend afternoons reading articles on permaculture, figuring out which plants grew well alongside other plants. Lavender with tomatoes kept the pests away, slight shade for the granadilla vine, some water, but not too much for the root vegetables. It was lovely to watch her coax tasty and nutritious food individually out of the ground. I can’t imagine full-scale farming being nearly as enjoyable.

That’s what I want from my products. I want to putter about, feel connected to the process, and have fun doing so. I want to make things that don’t scale. To see people tuck into them and enjoy them as people, not as stats.

I’m not building any web app side projects at the moment, but if/when I pick that up again, I would want to do something like this.

Mar 8, 2025 · No comments yet