Have you declared a secret New Year’s
resolution? Perhaps something like: to expand spiritually, to bond
deeper with nature, or to take better care of your body? Yet you
don’t want to be accountable because “nature” sounds as remote as
next summer’s camping trip, sitting still to meditate is not your
style, and you don’t want diets and gyms? What if one hobby would
accomplish all three goals, with delicious side-affects as well?
This wonder-hobby is gardening, and you don’t have to sport a green
thumb. Nor do you have to plant acres—one pot will do. Grow a few
seeds, just for fun, and see where this leads. You’ll be creating
color, beauty, fragrance, flavor, and wonder. You’ll also be
planting the potential for the dividends above: deepening your bond
with nature, your spirituality, and your health.
“But,” you say, “I don’t plan to live here long. I am not
horticultural, and I don’t have much time or space right now.”
Aha, gardening offers Lesson 1: Live fully NOW. Don’t
postpone joy. Put your roots down wherever you are—for now. Sow love
and reap the benefits. The size does not matter. A bucket with drain
holes, a whiskey barrel on the deck, or a whole plot is fine. You
are doing this for personal enjoyment, not to compare yourself to
experts. So get yourself to a seed rack or a seed catalog and dream
a bit. You could plant some mint seed to grow your own tea. Or, how
about growing nasturtiums for cheerful brightness and edible
flowers? Want lettuces and greens for fresh salads? A packet of
“Mesclun Mix” will give you variety.
Next, get ready to sow your seeds into indoor containers in
March/April, or to prepare an outdoor spot in late May. Either way,
good soil is the key. If you need to purchase soil, buy bags that
say “potting medium” or “potting mix”. Buy a bag of compost too, and
mix that into the soil. Your seedlings will love what compost
gives—a boost in your soil’s nutrients and moisture-holding ability,
and disease resistance for your plants.
Working with soil brings you a big payoff: you ground yourself when
your hands are in the soil. From now on, you can poke your fingers
into that soil any time you feel stressed or scattered. Soil contact
settles you right down. Ahh! So that’s Lesson 2: Grounding.
What is more magical than watching your seeds sprout and grow? You
supply them with regular watering and light (find more instructions
in Alaska Wellness archives online). Your monitoring and care become
Lesson 3: You are drawn in to a daily relationship with
nature. It is a give-and-take relationship. As you apply water to
thirsty plants and make sure they do not fry in the windowsill, you
are meeting the true needs of the plants. The plants respond with
growth and health. This is not manipulation, pretending, or
over-giving. This is love.
Around June 1, you’ll be able to plant or transplant outdoors. As
you work, feel the breeze against your cheek and smell the sweet,
living soil. Hear the birds’ songs. Again, you are deepening your
interaction with creation. As you pull out weeds and thin seedlings,
note how you happily get lost in the rhythms. Time evaporates. This
is Lesson 4: You have effortlessly shifted to a meditative
state. Your gardening transports you from tension to mindlessness.
Hurrah, this is meditation plus therapy!
Then comes the day you see a slug or a caterpillar eating your
lettuce. Or perhaps you notice your basil plant is full of aphids.
Will you panic? Declare war? Give up? Or see that this is nature
offering you another lesson? If you use this opportunity for
spiritual expansion, note whether you feel trespassed, alarmed, or
angry. Then take a deep breath and remember you are doing this for
fun.
Remember you have organic choices about pest management to explore.
Challenge yourself to remain observant, rather than enraged or
resigned. After all, you can focus hard on The Problem and The
Enemy, or you can focus on all that is going well in your garden.
So, experiment with Lesson 5: Change the channel when you don’t like
the show. For extra credit, practice seeing this pest as a
conscious, glorious creation of God, simply doing its ecological
job. You can send it some love. You can actually communicate with it
to negotiate a harvest-sharing bargain.
Harvesting opportunities come quickly, so start grazing! Here comes
Lesson 6: When you nibble a nasturtium blossom with curiosity, your
senses open. You expand in to this present moment, not in the past
or future. Ahh! Just what the great sages recommend.
As you garden your way through the summer, tune in to the sounds,
smells, and cycles of the seasons. Indulge in the grounding,
centering, and mindlessness. Enjoy a sense of wonder, joy,
relaxation. By doing so, you reap fresh harvests and feel the
generosity of the universe. You feel rich and open-hearted as you
share tastes with others. And that resolution about taking better
care of your body? You just did it—being outside, hauling soil and
compost, eating high-vibration greens, and letting the garden soothe
your stresses away. Congratulations!
So grab a trowel, and let your garden be your nature walk, guru,
grocery, and personal trainer.
Ellen Vande Visse
is the author of
Ask
Mother Nature: A Conscious Gardener’s Guide.
To receive information, including classes, please send an email to
information@goodearthgardenschool
