Privacy Policy

Who We Are and What This Covers

The Rooted Almanac (therootedalmanac.com) is an evergreen gardening guide. We publish practical, seasonal advice about growing food and flowers. This policy explains what information we collect when you visit the site, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies to everything at therootedalmanac.com. It does not cover other websites we link to, which have their own privacy practices.

We keep our data footprint deliberately small. Reading the site does not require an account, and we do not run a newsletter, so most visitors never hand us any personal information at all.

What We Collect

We collect very little, and only in a few specific situations.

• Contact form submissions. If you use our on-site contact form, we receive whatever you choose to send: typically your name or handle, an email address so we can reply, and your message. We use this only to respond to you.
• Standard server logs. Like nearly every website, our hosting infrastructure automatically records basic technical data such as IP addresses, browser type, pages requested, and timestamps. These logs help us keep the site secure, diagnose problems, and understand broad traffic patterns.

We do not require registration, we do not sell email lists, and we do not build advertising profiles ourselves.

Cookies and Analytics

To understand which articles are useful, we use Cloudflare Web Analytics. It is privacy-first and cookieless: it does not use cookies, does not fingerprint your device, and does not track you as an individual or across other sites. It reports aggregate figures like page views and referrers, not personal profiles.

Aside from any cookies required by the advertising and consent tools described below, we do not set our own tracking cookies.

Advertising

We display ads through Google AdSense to help fund the site. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.

You can control this. Google allows you to opt out of personalized advertising through Google Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com. To learn more about how Google uses data in advertising, see https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads. You may also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized ads through industry tools such as those offered by the Digital Advertising Alliance and the Network Advertising Initiative.

Affiliate Links

Some of our articles contain affiliate links. We participate in affiliate programs, including the Amazon Associates Program, and we may earn a commission when you buy something through one of these links, at no extra cost to you. This never changes the price you pay, and it does not influence which products we recommend. We suggest tools and supplies because we think they are worth your time, not because of a commission.

Your Privacy Rights

If you are in the EEA or UK (GDPR)

You have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to request correction or deletion, to restrict or object to certain processing, and to data portability. Where we rely on consent, such as for personalized advertising cookies, you can withdraw it at any time. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you are in California (CCPA/CPRA)

You have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request its deletion, to correct inaccurate information, and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for targeted advertising. We do not sell your information for money, but the use of advertising cookies may be considered “sharing” under California law, and you can opt out through the controls below. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

Managing consent

Where required — for example when we serve personalized advertising — we present a Google-certified consent management tool (CMP) so you can accept or decline non-essential cookies, including advertising cookies, and change your choices later. Because our own analytics are cookieless, no consent prompt is needed for measurement. You can also manage or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time.

To make any privacy request, contact us using the form described below.

Data Retention

We keep contact form messages only as long as needed to handle your inquiry and any reasonable follow-up, then delete them. Server logs are retained for a limited period for security and troubleshooting before being discarded or anonymized. We do not keep personal data longer than we have a genuine reason to.

Children’s Privacy

The Rooted Almanac is a general-audience gardening site and is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as our practices or the law evolve. When we make meaningful changes, we will revise the page and update the “Last updated” date shown at the top. We encourage you to review it from time to time.

How to Contact Us

Questions about your privacy, or want to exercise any of the rights above? Reach us through the contact form on this site, and we will respond as promptly as we reasonably can.