A Lesson From My Mother's Garden

As I spend time with my mother and grandmother in Jamaica, I am learning so so much.

Let me start this- and basically everything- by saying, I couldn’t have scripted the circumstances that got me here, but I’m grateful for how everything is unfolding. I also couldn’t have gotten these ‘downloads’ any other way.

So….

As I walked my mother’s garden, here’s what I got.

Here, we consume the things that we grow. For some, they kill the thing that they will eat. There’s a family friend who has 50 chickens. He’s tending to them, feeding them, treating them well, because he knows they will be dinner one day. The simple act of taking care of the plant or animal that you will put into your body is equally mind blowing and simple to me. In the States, there is a deep disconnection to the process of tending to your garden as a means to tend to yourself- and your community.

Here, people grow food in their yards and when there is too much, they give it away to their neighbors. No questions asked. You have what you need and give away the rest. For some that means sell the rest, and that’s fine too. But for the most part there is no overconsumption and no hoarding of resources. People hire each other for the things they need (ie carpenter, mason, taxi driver, etc). There’s an ecosystem of support- at least where I am. I can’t speak for the whole country.

While I was in her garden I was overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility to life- all life. Growing your own food gives you an opportunity to tend to, nourish, and take care of yourself. People take care of their goats, feed them well, because they know they will consume it later (or sell). People water their fruit trees because they know the tree will have a crop. You don’t add chemicals to your soil because that would be detrimental to the plant and to yourself…and to whoever you give/sell it to.

There’s just an understood, and wildly understated level of care and connection that goes into tending to the land- which also means tending to yourself and your community.

While I’m here, I feel more connected to the ecosystem that I’m a part of. I feel a deep reverence to all the people who’ve ever touched the land in intentional ways. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world at this very moment.

I can feel (like really feel) the importance of the Sun and the rain.

Grateful is an understatement.