Sunshine and Seedlings is Leaving Substack!
On self hosting, why I'm leaving Substack, and where things go from here.
I’m taking this blog off of Substack and moving to a self-hosted Ghost blog!
Things should look and work pretty much the same over there, and if you are subscribed, your subscription will carry over to the new server.
Now, I’m over at https://blog.hydroponictrash.solar!
How to make sure you get new updates
If you are a current subscriber, you are already subscribed to the new blog. Emails will come from: posts@hydroponictrash.solar
All emails from my blog will come from posts@hydroponictrash.solar. If you don’t do anything, they might land in Promotions, Updates, or even Spam, depending on your email provider.
The easiest way is to add that email to your contacts/safe sender’s list. Or if it ends up in spam, mark it as not spam (idk what email provider you are using, but it should be easy).
Why I’m leaving Substack
There are a couple of reasons I’m switching over, and it’s been something looming in the back of my mind for a while. So, I finally put in the work (it was kind of a pain) and made the switch to my own self-hosted server.
I want to own my work and control my data. I don’t want to be beholden to a corporation to make sure my writing is out there in the world.
A big reason is that Substack doesn’t moderate anything. Which means I have to share a platform that routinely allows neo-nazis, conspiracy theorists, and other right-wing chuds to spew hatred and misinformation. For more info, check out
Because of the relative toxicity of Substack, I have heard from many people that they won’t share or even read my work because it’s on Substack. Which is a huge bummer. I originally started this as a passion project just to get shit out of my head, and now it’s bloomed into something pretty big (thanks to all of you who support me). I don’t want to be associated with a site that is connected with white supremacists, and I don’t want people to pass over what I write because of where the information sits.
What’s different about the new blog?
I’ve overhauled all of my posts. I have a terrible tendency as a writer to not edit my shit after writing it. So I updated all my posts, corrected spelling and grammar, and fixed some broken TikTok links.
I can control paid subscriptions more, with new tiers. I made it way cheaper to support the blog monthly or yearly.
You can now send one-time donations!
If you want to buy me a coffee, help fund a project, or just want to throw some cash my way as thanks, now you don’t have to subscribe monthly!
The blog can now be followed on the Fediverse, thanks to Ghost’s integration with ActivityPub!
Paid Subscribers
If you are a paid subscriber (thank you again for supporting me), you will still stay subscribed. Your paid subscription isn’t handled by Substack (Stripe handles that).
Feel free to keep it, or cancel your current subscription and resubscribe. Totally up to you though.
Good move. You sure got that right
It is SO WEIRD to state free speech as a reason to leave a platform.