Black thumbs welcome Gardening and lessons on resilience

it all started with setting an intention

sort of like a new year’s resolution but

it was october

october of the longest year many of us

have ever lived

2020. spent the year

adjusting to a new normal teaching

college students for my laptop

helping others embrace self-care in the

midst of a pandemic

and indulging a newfound passion for

baking that was beginning to spiral out

of control

i needed to stabilize myself i was

compelled to find an outlet in the wake

of the pandemic

and the relentless fight against

systemic racism

and societal injustices the combination

of which scientists were referring to as

a syndemic i needed reassurance

that there was a light at the end of the

tunnel and that it wasn’t the flicker of

an

oncoming train so i set

two intentions healing and growth

an unlikely idea started to form in my

mind

i should take up gardening this struck

me by surprise

given an extensive history of plants

that have lost the will to live under my

care

or rather my negligence and although my

research focuses on self-care and i

teach stress management

i never even considered gardening as a

healing practice

so why am i here talking to you about

gardening today

i’m here to tell you about what

gardening did for me

it gave me a way to reconnect with

something positive in a world that felt

increasingly toxic

and volatile this experience of learning

to

nurture and care for a garden was

healing

giving me a sense of agency in a time of

uncertainty

learning to grow the food that i

consumed

taught me important lessons about

resilience the ability

to bounce back and move forward in the

face of adversity

i’d like to share these lessons with you

the first

lesson is to reconnect with your

foundation

i’d like to tell you about how

connecting with the land helped me to

reconnect to the strength of my family

roots

i had been casually following a local

black-owned urban farm

on social media for several months when

a specific social media post

caught me by surprise and shifted me

from admiring gardens from

afar to being compelled to start one of

my own

in the photo i saw a picture of a black

hand

grasping a yam from the soil

i recognized the yam as a beloved dish

at family gatherings

and as a daily staple in my own home i

recognized the hand

black like my own however

it was the land that i was disconnected

from the labor of this hand

fully emerged in the soil the process of

nurturing and growing this yield

were completely foreign to me the post

went on to explain the aversion that

many blacks have to working with the

land

given what they called a painful

association

with slavery and sharecropping they

spoke of gardening as a lost art

it made me think about my family’s roots

in tangipahoa parish louisiana

my great great great great grandfather

robert vernon

known as free bob or deacon bob grew up

enslaved in mississippi

and was separated from his wife and sons

when they were sold to different

plantations

he eventually was able to purchase his

freedom and move to louisiana

to join his father growing cotton on 160

acres of land

that he would eventually go on to expand

to more than 2

000 acres reunite with his sons and

create a family legacy

and although we’ve lost much of this

acreage over the years

we still have relatives living on the

land that bears our family name

vernon town here

robert vernon road is named for my great

great great great grandfather

my grandmother was raised on this land

her family grew stream beans

corn and potatoes to sell and sugarcane

to take to the mill for processing

my family eventually moved to california

in search of opportunity

however i have memories of my

grandfather dropping off bags of peas

for us to snap

every summer a child of the 80s i didn’t

understand why he would go to the

trouble to drive out to the fields or

when my grandmother would have us

sit and snap peas for days when they

were available in the freezer section of

the grocery market

however i’m grateful now to have had

even a slight connection to my family’s

heritage

this story of my people’s land and our

strength flows through my veins

gardening reminds me of our ability to

create with our own

bare hands as i garden i am taking part

in a ritual that has nourished my family

for more than a century

knowing that i’m a part of this legacy

reminds me of the strength that i

possess

to face challenges with courage and

confidence

the second lesson is to embrace a

beginner’s mind

well i’ve always enjoyed nature hikes

and felt a natural connection to the

ocean

i’d never thought about a practice in

which i was able to partner with nature

in its creative process my garden began

with seedlings of plants

such as cabbage onions lettuce

broccolini

edible flowers and spinach judging by my

initial reactions to my new

responsibilities of watering regularly

and checking for pests you would have

thought these were newborn babies

my mind was flooded with questions and

doubts

what if i over water my plants what if i

underwater them

of course i did both in the beginning

fortunately

i had the opportunity to work with

master gardeners

they helped me to ease into the process

patiently listening to my struggles and

my woes as they constructed my beds

maintained my soils and taught me how to

prune deadhead

weed water harvest and everything in

between

they truly had my back this partnership

helped to alleviate my anxiety and

embrace being a beginner

a big deal for someone who expects

yourself to be good at everything

the third lesson is that you must

nurture

what you want to see grow

my dill plant started out tiny and

scrawny

before growing more than four feet tall

and towering over all the rest of my

plants

i hesitated to pick it because if i

removed even two leaves it might be bare

i actually thought it was dead for a

while but i kept watering it two to

three times a week

just to be sure and as time passed it

develops

strong roots thick stems and the ability

to

grow in the directions that best ensured

its survival

given its productivity dill is now

constantly featured in our egg

fish and salad dishes i’ve taken this

lesson from the garden

into my daily life i’m reminded to keep

working towards my goals

and to not be deterred if they don’t

come to fruition immediately

fresh dill is incredibly bold and a

little bit goes a long way

its powerful flavor represents the

confidence i want to have in myself

rather than stress over every detail i

want to strive for consistency

and focus on practices that help me stay

the course when life becomes difficult

in a way i’m watering myself when i slow

down

and engage in practices that help me to

recover like meditation

devotion and expressing gratitude the

more that i incorporate these practices

in my daily life

the better i am able to cope with the

stress that life throws

my way the fourth lesson

is to let go of control and perfection

when you think of weeds do dandelions

come to mind

how about chamomile your answer is

likely shaped by your experiences with

these plants

weeds are defined as plants that grow

where they are not desired

i grew up thinking only of dandelions as

weeds but it turns out they were

historically valued

for their beauty nutritional value and

use as a medicine

perspective is everything it seems that

they’ve been successfully rebranded in

recent years

as they are featured in salads wines and

even coffee substitutes

while i didn’t plan to grow dandelion it

did grow in my garden free of pesticides

which meant i could eat the leaves and

salads i can spend my time

fighting against the strong determined

will of this plant or

i can learn how to value and utilize its

strengths

now we did plant the chamomile on

purpose but it started to grow

quickly and soon made it difficult for

nearby plants to thrive

so we relocated some of it to another

bed

however it isn’t a weed to me it’s a

sanctuary

when the problems of this world start to

overwhelm me

i step into my garden and i can feel my

body release

stress as i tend to harvest in chamomile

in a meditative state one flower at a

time

my husband and i have come to look

forward to an evening ritual

of sipping chamomile lemongrass and mint

teas

fresh from the garden i wasn’t always

good at noticing these simple pleasures

initially i spent an embarrassing amount

of time

chasing off soil gnats and searching

online for the perfect tools

or gloves or other ways to automate and

simplify my garden

task that is to say my

issues followed me into my relationship

with gardening

i wasn’t sure i was ready for the

commitment of having to water my plants

every two or three days what if i wanted

to go somewhere

and if a plant withered drooped or died

i was convinced it was confirmation that

gardening

was not for me i used to pull

even the smallest hint of a weed every

single weekend

recently i pulled out an entire swiss

chard plant

because as much as i treated the powdery

mildew on its leaves

it kept coming back upon further

reflection

i was feeling a bit down that day and

the swiss chard was an innocent

bystander

with a bit of patience i could have

washed the mildew off

and removed some of the more severely

impacted leaves giving it a chance to

grow back

pulling it out was admittedly a bit of

an overreaction

however that empty spot in the garden

now reminds me in life to take a moment

to breathe

and to reflect before i respond to a

situation

it is helpful for me to remember that

the path to joy

travels through mindfulness not

perfection

i have to be present with my current

reality and accept it

without judgment there are opportunities

for joy in our daily lives

but we miss most of them because our

minds are busy thinking about the past

or what we have to do next or what could

possibly go wrong

when is the last time that you pause to

admire the colors of the sky

or to notice the growth of leaves on a

tree

as it emerges from the winter and

welcomes the spring

when i step into the garden it is a

fully immersive experience

i take in the colors the fragrances

and the textures because i pay close

attention to my garden on a near-daily

basis

i can quickly sense changes in growth

and appearance

these small changes bring me joy

i know that not all of my vegetables are

going to survive my beginner gardening

skills

and the rest of them will eventually be

harvested and eaten

for this reason i try to appreciate the

current state of my garden

if i require perfection i never would

have started in the first place

my garden isn’t in an ideal sunny area

and i deal with my fair share of pests

and yet i keep showing up to tend to my

garden

using it as an escape for my daily life

fighting against entropy

because of the joy that i get out of

this imperfect masterpiece that i’ve

created

in a similar way i want to be present

enough

to enjoy the blessings relationships and

experiences that i currently have in my

life

i don’t want to make the mistake of

waiting for perfect conditions

i’ve lived too much of my life this way

it’s time to let go of this expectation

the normalcy that we’ve been warning the

loss of is likely not returning

at least not in the form that we

remembered we have to start valuing what

remains

we can’t do it all or fix it all and

that’s okay

in fact it came as a release to me to

finally accept that i don’t have all of

the answers

embracing uncertainty is what allows me

to focus on what is under my control

the fifth and final lesson is to find

healing

in community the gardening community

that i’m a part of has had a profound

impact on me

the beautiful harvest that i grow in my

garden is a reflection of every person

that helped me

to construct it find my feet as a

beginner and embrace a deeper

appreciation for the healing power of

fresh food

recently one of the expert gardeners

that i had the fortune of working with

passed away unexpectedly he taught me

the true meaning of soul food as he

tended to each of my plants with great

care

soul food is the loving labor poured

into creating meals

that nurture our soul as well as our

bodies

and that starts with the growing process

interacting with passionate gardeners

has also influenced my own diet

they’ve exposed me to a lifestyle of

stepping out into the garden after a

long day to clip some lettuce

and some herbs for my meals which i

frequently do now

the more connected i am to the growing

process the more i find myself drawn to

eating whole

unprocessed foods and actually

prioritizing them

over the refined carbohydrates and added

sugars that i previously craved

gardening is a springboard for

connection i’ve joined several online

forms for black women who garden

something i never imagined existed we

give ourselves the gift of

representation

sharing images we rarely see of

ourselves in the media

tending to acres of land and elderly

women posting selfies where they look 20

years younger than their actual age

we help each other troubleshoot and care

for our plants we engage in communal

healing as we learn to nurture life

together

and it heals us as we deal with traumas

in the outside world

i share lessons from my garden with my

friends on social media

and even my local farm shares these

lessons with our greater community

i’ve highlighted for you how gardening

has been a tool for joy

resilience and healing in my life

through teaching me five

important lessons one reconnect with

your foundation

two embrace a beginner’s mind

three nurture what you want to see grow

four let go of control and perfection

and five find healing in community

these lessons have helped me over the

past year to cope positively with stress

and disrupt my default stress coping

behaviors such as

comfort eating and overworking i have

found sanctuary in my gardening

my experience isn’t unique perhaps for

many of us gardening has been a

welcoming self

a friend that embraces us as we are and

invites us to stay a while

a respite from the outside world in fact

people who spend time in nature on a

regular basis report lower levels of

anxiety

and higher levels of well-being than

those who don’t

however healing efforts at the

individual level

are incomplete without larger efforts to

heal

broken systems for many these times have

widened equity gaps

complicating the plight for basic needs

and survival

we must work together to make healing

accessible for all

especially those who need it most food

is not only sustenance

it is a matter of justice of joy

of healing and of pleasure

as a public health researcher i am

advocating for the creation of

comprehensive gardening programs

in marginalized communities to help

address health disparities through

holistic approaches

yes gardening can address many aspects

of well-being

the most obvious being nutrition and

physical activity

however there is also a spiritual

element it is a practical tool

for stress management and for

cultivating community

my final call of action today is to you

to identify a healing practice

that works in your life these practices

are what helped my own healing journey

but i challenge you to experiment and

find what works for you

perhaps it’s walking in nature engaging

in play

spending time with loved ones taking

time to rest

reflect journal in the end

the lessons that i have shared transcend

gardening they have the power to help

you

overcome challenges and experience

growth in the process

whatever you are facing in your life you

can make the choice to respond with

resilience

cheers to your journey and finding the

practices that heal

nourish and strengthen you