I read an article by Georgina Reid this morning; I probably read it when it was first published but it has resonated strongly with me today. In it, she reflects on why she resisted the terms ‘garden’ and ‘gardening’ but has now reclaimed them.
She says:
“I am a gardener. I can’t think of a more important responsibility. Gardening is not just a set of tasks. It’s not restricted to backyards, courtyards, balconies. It can, and should, happen anywhere, everywhere. Gardening is simply a framework for engagement with our world, grounded in care, action and intimacy with place. To garden is to care deeply, inclusively and audaciously for the world outside our homes and our heads. It’s a way of being that is intimately interwoven with the real truths of existence—not the things we’re told to value (money, status, ownership), but the things that actually matter (sustenance, perspective, beauty, connection, growth).”
That’s what gardening has always been for me: a relationship with our earth. It is only tiny, my patch of land, but it grounds me and provides a sense of place. Having my hands in the soil and feeling the air around me makes me grateful for so much.
Grateful for the land, grateful for the willingness of plants to survive and thrive, and grateful for the sense of peace. And the beauty! There’s so much beauty around us.
I am nourished by gardening.