Feeding Friends & Family
This past Spring 2021, Erin (pictured below) and I bought a space on a community garden plot.
We did not one hundred percent know what we were doing.
We successfully grew green beans, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, fresh New Jersey Tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and banana peppers.
We unsuccessfully grew cucumber, watermelon, eggplant, and butternut squash.
Here are my 5 biggest takeaways from this experience that apply inside and outside the Larewnceville Community Garden Plot:
Just start.
You don’t have to know everything before you start something. You will make mistakes. You will learn. All of it will make you grow.
Be in the know.
Know where your food comes from. Is it being shipped from out of state and causing pollution along the way? Maybe it’s from in state but still traveled quite a distance and sprayed with “organic pesticides” to make sure it stays fresh all that time. Ever stop to think about who profits when you purchase those vegetables?
Knowing that my vegetables this summer came from the ground right over there added to a feeling of satisfaction and nourishment that I was taking care of my body and the planet.
Sidenote: as I was reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (click for link to book) this summer, I kept thinking that if I did not already get my vegetables from our garden right over there and my meat from a local farm down the road, this book would push me to do so. The book provides many more, detailed reasons why buying local and sustainable is important beyond my heath and the planet’s health.
Feeding friends + family = joy
Sharing our fresh vegetable with friends and family elevated those feelings of satisfaction and nourishment. The shared vegetables always tasted the freshest and the bestest.
Patience (further described in the images below).
5. Grounding.
Do not wear your favorite sneakers when gardening. Although, you might end up taking them off so they don’t get dirty and discover what grounding is all about.
Or, there’s a book for that: Earthing by Clinton Ober, Dr. Stephen T Sinatra, and Martin Zucker.
If you are located in Central NJ and ready to learn about nourishing your life through strength and conditioning, use the form below to contact me. Ask me about my remote options if you are out of the area.
