Gardens have been a constant in my life. As a kid, I have great memories of my grandmother’s and my parent’s garden. For most of the past forty or so years, we’ve had big gardens where I live now. There was a time we plowed both fields for truck crops. I remember many weekends canning tomatoes and shelling peas and limas for the freezer. Now, the garden is smaller, but still full of a diverse set of vegetables and flowers. The bees are happy, the birds, rabbits, and humans are happy, and the deer are frustrated (because the garden fenced inside a fenced field).
Humankind has been gardening for thousands of years. For food, of course, but I also think for the deep satisfaction that comes from cultivating and tending plants, whether flowers or vegetables. Gardening can reduce stress and anxiety - probably because we get to work with the Earth in a quiet environment where time slows. From post-WWII “Victory Gardens,” to community gardens, to growing lettuce on the International Space Station, the science and practice of gardening continues to evolve. (An aside, “Atomic Gardening” after WWII produced today’s peppermint and red grapefruit…)
In our writing and artistic practice, I’m all for planting, cultivating, and sampling as many ideas as possible - across a variety of forms. For example, although I primarily write poetry, I enjoy trying flash non-fiction, short stories, and of course, this blog :-). (What I haven’t tried yet is a novel, that seems daunting, sort of like having a rose garden.) My feeling is that the return on cultivating a diversity of ideas, styles, and forms, is critical to growing as a writer and artist. And also, as a person.
Photo credit: Darko Plohl
Supporting articles:
Encyclopedia Britannica: Gardening
Why Gardening is Good for Your Mental Well-Being
Seek wonder. Embrace joy!
