The value of stewardship | Foraging a path towards the garden
The first garden I have memory of was the one my father lovingly planted in our backyard. For him it was second nature, an act so familiar that there was an air of ease in that little patch of soil. The steadfast, resilient and rewarding practice was something he also experienced growing up. His folks tended a large garden and very likely their parents long before that. It was a part of how one lived.
We didn’t live in the country but a town just outside San Francisco in the East Bay. The place I’ve come to realize does not matter. Rather the knowingness of an experience seeds its continuation generation after generation.
Today after having lived in California, Oregon, and now New Mexico, I’m happy to see the resurgence of small scale vegetable and herb gardens everywhere. Be it through urban farms, community gardens, or simply surrounding private residences people are coming back to the garden. I witnessed it unfold as a child and though it’s taken me years, I've found an outlet for it to grow.
The calling to plant, to tend, to harvest, in other words be a home gardener or small-scale farmer has always been and will continue to be a part of human nature. Once in your bones, I think having either the raw elements of nature or the freshness of what a garden offers, like trees, flowers, fruits, and vegetables surrounding you becomes infectious.
My ancestors were farmers. They were folk with a deep connection to the land; humble, sensitive, and receptive. After I completed college I began working with small CSA (community supported agriculture) farms in the Willamette Valley. I remember feeling as though I’d returned home and for five years it became what I lived and breathed.
I felt as through I was fulfilling a calling. It was a satisfaction not easily articulated through words. Instead my hands became more sure and strong, my senses sharpened, and my body craved fresh air and soft ground. Each day I walked alongside beauty. It was tangible meaningful work.
It echoed what I discovered from my studies in Asian art, craft, design and philosophy; that the surrounding landscape was a being and force, in and of itself, to be honored, loved, and respected.
The art I embodied became gardening. What I planted became the ingredients for delicious food and healing medicine for myself and community. I pursued the study of Ayurveda and moved to New Mexico where I continue the practice and art of gardening and lean into the natural processes of life and death, beginnings and endings, growth and decay, inevitable movement and change.
Every year I grow a little garden. Though the processes can remain the same, I change, the garden evolves. It’s always different from the year before. My hope is that while honoring the constant rhythms of nature and the pleasures of what a garden provides, I inspire others to do the same.
Plant your feet on the ground, tune in, remain curious and observant.