The Verdant Gnome

06/15/2026

🚨 Somehow, against all statistical probability and despite my questionable relationship with social media algorithms… I’ve made it to the Quarterfinals of the People’s Artist competition. 😄🎨

The next round is a 10-day voting sprint, and I’m up against some incredibly talented artists from around the country. If you’ve been following along, enjoying the journey, or just want to support an independent artist who spends as much time with dirt under his fingernails as paint on his hands, I’d be honored to have your vote.

Every vote helps, and sharing the link with a friend or two can make a real difference. Let’s see how far this little adventure can go.

🗳️ Vote here: https://peoplesartist.org/2026/matthew-sabellico

Thank you for the encouragement, the conversations, and for believing in creative people trying to carve out a place in the world. Onward to the semifinals. 🌿✨

Creation Is Where Judgment Dissolves No Right Or Wrong Just Truth Moving Through Us, Guided By Heart And A Quiet Touch Of The Divine.

06/05/2026

Top 5.

As I sit here reflecting on the journey, I’m honestly a bit amazed.

I don’t have a huge following. I’m not an influencer. I’m a farmer, artist, writer, father, advocate, and student of life who simply tries to create meaningful things and leave places a little better than I found them.

Yet somehow, because of the support of so many incredible people, I’ve made it into the Top 5 of my group in The People’s Artist competition and currently hold the 1st place spot.

This is the final elimination round before the quarterfinals, where the winners of each group advance to compete against one another.

Regardless of what happens next, I’m deeply grateful. Every vote, share, message, and word of encouragement has carried me farther than I ever expected.

If you’d like to help me continue this journey, I would sincerely appreciate your vote. Every single one makes a difference.

Thank you all.

With gratitude,

Matthew

Sat Nam 🙏🌱✨

https://peoplesartist.org/2026/matthew-sabellico

05/05/2026

Thank you so much for your support 💚

Creation Is Where Judgment Dissolves No Right Or Wrong Just Truth Moving Through Us, Guided By Heart And A Quiet Touch Of The Divine.

10/21/2025

It’s finally here. My first book, Call Me on the Tree Phone, is now available on Amazon.

This book has been over 20 years in the making — part memoir, part myth, part prayer — a story about grief, truth, and becoming.

If you’ve ever walked through the fire and come out remembering who you are, this one’s for you. I started out wanted to write a gardening book which quickly morphed into something different, it is written in poetic voice that grew directly from the garden of my soul.

I am honored to share this with everyone and look forward to continuing to write and develop my voice as an author to connect with our community in new ways.

Follow the link. Or search Call me on the tree phone book or Matthew Sabellico on Amazon to purchase.

https://a.co/d/0TTLQm2

08/22/2025

As Chair of the Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, I stand here with gratitude for the work we do together. This board isn’t just about reviewing parcels or maps—it’s about shaping the story of who we are as a community, and who we will be for generations to come.

Every time I sit at the table with this board, every time I walk a farm field with a landowner, or hear from our neighbors about their hopes and challenges, I am reminded of something simple and profound: agriculture is not just business. It is not just land use. It is culture. It is life. It is legacy.

And I’ll tell you—this work has inspired me. It has lit a spark in me to go further, to invest even more deeply in local agriculture. Because through this board, I have seen the resources, the knowledge, and the partnerships that can bring about real change. And I’ve realized: we already hold the tools in our hands. The question is how boldly we use them.

Here’s what I believe: if we want to build a resilient future, we have to start close to home. We must protect our farmland, yes—but more than that, we must create conditions where our farmers can grow food for the people right here, in our own towns and villages. When we strengthen local agricultural economies, we keep our resources close, we build food security, and we empower our communities.

This is not just conservation. This is creation—of stability, of dignity, of a future that doesn’t have to look outward first to distant economic centers, but instead grows from the soil beneath our feet outward to the world.

When we invest first in our own communities, we create something enduring. We leave a legacy not of scarcity and fragility, but of abundance and resilience. A legacy where our children inherit not only land, but also the lived memory of what it means to belong to a community that takes care of itself.

This is the vision I carry with me now. And it is because of this board, and the work we’ve done together, that I believe we can achieve it. Together we can protect, renew, and expand our agricultural roots—so that this county remains not just a place where farms exist, but a place where farming thrives.

08/15/2025

“The garden is in full voice right now—every stem, petal, and leaf singing in the key of August. The air hums with color, the beds overflow with joy, and the sun seems to linger just to watch. This is the season of abundance, when beauty doesn’t whisper—it shouts.”

08/07/2025

We followed the water.
From the roar of the falls to the hush of the Great Lake’s ancient shore.
From the breath of Niagara to the still pulse of Ontario.

Here, barefoot on the edge of Lake Ontario,
I did not arrive as a casual passerby—
but as one who came to be cleansed.
Not by ritual, but by presence.
Not to pray, but to let the waters wash what no longer belongs.

The grief, the noise, the names I no longer answer to—
they dissolved in the lake-light of now.

This wasn’t just a journey of sight.
It was a pilgrimage of return.
And the mist that touched us on the Maid of the Mist—
that was no ordinary water.
That was the veil parting.
That was the threshold crossing.
That was a baptism into the world before the world we know today.

Open your heart, and the land speaks.
Open your mind, and the great waters teach you.
Open your spirit, and you will remember who you’ve always been.

I remembered that I am not lost.
I am not broken.
I am becoming.
And I am already home.

07/31/2025

Ten Years of Becoming — With my Sacred Flame

Ten years ago, beneath a super blue moon, I married my best friend, my soul’s counterpart, the one who saw me before I ever knew how to be seen.
Since then, we’ve walked through fire and rain, laughter and heartbreak, raising our girls in the soil of truth and unconditional love.

Tiffani, you are the Sacred Flame—
“the one who returned the sun when the garden had gone cold.”
You offer tough love when I’m drifting, comfort when I collapse, and a mirror that reflects who I truly am, not who the world tried to make me.

This union was never about perfection.
It was about devotion.
And devotion—real, raw, soul-deep—has carried us to this moment.

A decade in, we’ve grown respect as deep as our love, and love as wide as the infinite space between everything and nothing.
You’ve ignited something eternal in me.
I stand in my truth, hand in yours, more in love with you now than I ever thought possible.

Here’s to the next ten.
To the wild, the sacred, the becoming.
To us.

I love you.
Now. Always. And in all the lifetimes to come.