a lifestyle tip: try to have soil stuck under your nails at least once per week
Ok so food is a HUGE one. We can go on about this for ages. But, if theres one thing that I want you to take away from this is that food is energy and we should be mindful of which energy we put into our bodies. Think about the beautiful, holistic energy of a tomato grown in your garden. Now think of a plastic-wrapped, processed confection. The energies of those two foods couldn’t be more opposite.
You can sit around and count calories and track macros and go vegan and do all of the things that society deems “healthy” and still feel a complete separation from the energy of food. It’s when you really tune in and notice that sometimes (maybe more than sometimes), a homemade dessert is healthier than a pre-packaged supermarket salad. If you are eating something that was made by hand, even better if it was made with love, your body and mind will thank you for it.
I am by no means a dietician, and I have no interest in becoming one. I’ve just had a proper journey with my own relationship with food and I want to share some of these things I’ve noticed.
Watch it grow
My first piece of advice, start your own food growing operation. Social media can be a great place for information, but it can also make starting something new seem impossible, just go for it, even if your garden doesn’t look like the professional gardeners on instagram. Anyone can grow food, all you have to do is tune into what your plant needs, you don’t have to spend hours researching anything. I can tell you some basic things that your plant probably wants from you if its not looking so healthy:
Water (Be careful, you don’t want to over water, touch the soil, it shouldn’t feel soggy or too dry)
More or less sunlight (plants can get sunburnt too!)
A bigger pot
Physical support (some plants grow in the wild with the support of other plants to hold them up, you can mimic this with various physical supports)
So now that we established that it’s not really that hard to grow plants, let’s also discuss the space element. You don’t need to have a huge outdoor space or garden to live amongst plant friends. You don’t even need to have a balcony. Just a windowsill will do. Your house doesn’t have windows? I’m so sorry, please come live in my garden shed rent free.
Before I had a garden, I had a lot of fun playing plant pot Tetris with my windowsills and balconies. Growing my own plants/crops has always been a great way for me to maintain my connection to nature in an urban environment. I’m not saying that you have to have a full-on farming operation going on, but just the simple act of taking care of a plant everyday starts to change the way we view the world we live in. I know that it has personally been a space for me to experiment and get to know different plants in a deeper way.
Some plants that I recommend starting with are:
Tomatoes - they grow quickly and with little effort, just make sure you give them a physical support, enough water and a lot of love. Its better if you try these out in warmer months.
Lettuce - again, they grow quickly and just need a good amount of water. You can also grow lettuce year round with the right technique! I’ve just sowed my winter lettuce experiment last week.
Herbs - Rosemary is a staple in my garden because I use it medicinally as well as in the kitchen, plus it grows well in most climates. Rosemary is great for increasing heat in the body and improving circulation. I usually make rosemary tea to help with my circulation and I rub rosemary oil all over my body for toning and in my hair to encourage growth and thickness.
When you start to notice little peculiarities of plants, not only will your connection to nature be enhanced, but they will entertain you wherever you go. Every time I go somewhere new, whether its a park in my city or a completely different country, I am always amused by the funky new plant species I find. It’s also quite funny to watch them interact with one another, for example the way a vine snuggles up with a tree in a forest or how a little flower finds refuge under the shade of a fluffy bush.
Anna Greenland is a gardener and cook and offers amazing tips on her website for starting out your own growing operation. She is also the author behind the book “Grow Easy” which is a great resource for stress-free food growing.
P.S. Home-grown food taste better on handmade plates :)
