After my personal gardens failed numerous times, I ended up spending one summer volunteering on a local farm.
One day we were seeding the soil. The head gardener was talking to herself out loud. Every year, she maps out where each crop is going to be planted. She said, last year they planted potatoes in this area, so this year they were going to plant beets.
She explained each plant takes different nutrients from the soil. So in order to keep the soil rich, fertile and full of micronutrients, you must plant different crops each year.
Lesson Learned: You Must Replenish The Source.
I always strove to eat healthily. And as a mother, I recognized nursing depleted me in ways I’d never experienced. When elders reminded me that I was eating for two, I naively thought store-bought produce and salad bars were enough.
I hadn’t experienced food straight from the Earth. Which meant, I hadn’t fully experienced the full depth of flavor (and nutrients) Mother Nature has to offer.
Like mother’s milk which feeds every bodily system, the wholesome foods our garden produced literally fed my soul and my senses.
I ate seeded yellow watermelon, that was so naturally sweet, juicy and vibrant, that it even impressed my daughter who craved artificial sugar.
I ate crispy snap peas that were smooth, wet, and visually stimulating. I had scallions that were so aromatic, we could smell them as we picked them.
I even tasted spicy lettuce. Who knew lettuce could be spicy?
Witnessing Her (Mother Nature's) abundance, transformed the way I thought about my own produce (my milk supply). Even after selling at the farmers market and each member taking home their fair share, there was still so much left over.
I also bore witness to Her variety. I had no idea there were over 10,000 types of tomatoes. Similar to breastmilk which has a wide variety of hormones, anti-bodies and other living substances that differ depending on the environment, time of day, the child’s developmental stage, age, needs, and so on.
The more I learned about Her, the more I discovered about myself.
I truly had a blast working on the farm 4 hours a week. I especially looked forward to the conversations with a 70-year-old wombman who didn’t believe in gentrification to the life experiences of a 20-year-old backpacker. The team made me laugh, they made me think, they inspired me.
But the most rewarding experience was cultivating high-quality food, internalizing the art of growing, and learning how farming correlated to my health as a nursing wombman.
Have you had the opportunity to grow food? What correlations have you noticed with nursing and feeding ourselves? Need to schedule a one-on-one? Use code: HEART2HEART.
Until next time...
Love The Journey,
