July 2023

Pudgy was made completely on a whim on Jul 28, 2023. It consists mostly of temperate forrest soil sampled from the Griffin Reservoir, Clarks Summit, PA. I added one rock and a tiny patch of moss for looks. There is a ~ 10mm layer of coarse rocks at the bottom. The jar itself is about 2 cups in volume; it’s quite small!

March 2024

Pudgy is showing substantial growth. It looks beautiful! There’s grass, ferns, and some clover-like plant. A moth actually appeared in the jar around this time, so I broke the seal JUST ONCE to let it out. Otherwise, it likely would have crashed the ecosystem.

I have not been able to notice any other animals, springtails, nematodes, etc…

October 2025 - “The Great Crash”

Pudgy was doing great until just now. My dog Lucy, the large interplanetary monster to these plants, knocked the jar off of the windowsill in a barking fit directed at a stray cat. This shook up the content of the jar pretty bad. Without opening the jar, I tried to shake the contents semi-back-into-place, and palced it back in its original spot. We will see how it progresses from here.

The jar experienced a period of growth since March 2024. It peaked around March 2025, and then slowly regressed. During this whole time, I still did not see any evidence of animals with my naked eyes. There is still more biomass than March 2025. Maybe this shakeup will stimulate growth in unexpected ways?