Ross Gay’s Book of Delights is one that I find myself visiting over and over again.
His words always remind me to pay more attention to the world around me, and to find more delight in the little things. And perhaps most importantly “to be softer in a world so ready to sharpen us and to make us hard.”
In addition to being a brilliant writer, poet and professor, he’s also a gardener.
So stories from the garden often make their way into his writing. Which makes sense to me. It’s hard not to feel a sense of joy and delight when working in the garden.
Growing up working in the garden was my chore of choice. And it’s still one of my very favorite places to be. Mostly because it gives me an excuse to be outside, and also because there’s something almost meditative about it. And meditative activities are something that I always need more of.
And also because I really like food.
Which is one of the many reasons I’m fascinated by Gay’s involvement in the Bloomington Community Orchard. A ‘free-fruit-for all’ food justice and joy project. Sounds lovely, right?
He talks about it as a “communal gesture of caring for one another through growing food.” Food as a love language.
How when you plant a fruit tree, you may never actually eat that fruit. How it’s more of an act of service than anything else. A way to care for people that we may never actually meet. Similar to the Greek proverb “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
Or whose fruit they will never eat.
In an NPR interview years ago, he said “when we planted that orchard, there was the feeling of watching those trees go into the ground and thinking about all of that labor, all of that care and all of that struggle, too. But I think everyone felt that it would be something that we together could make that might care for people we do not know, and might care for people in the future who we could not imagine.”
A few days ago I watched a clip of a woman talking about how she and her family had just traded their dream home for an RV and life on the road. She had so many things to say about how much better their life was as a result.
And while I very much understand the appeal of simplifying all of the stuff that no doubt accumulates over years of living in one place, and am almost always looking for an excuse to travel somewhere new, one of the things I’ve learned about myself over the years is that I don’t actually share her sentiment.
As much as I love hopping on a bus, or train, car, or plane headed pretty much anywhere . . . I also really love returning to a place where I can plant seeds in the ground and pull weeds at the end of a long day. Where I very literally feel grounded.
It’s one of the things I’ve missed most over the last few years.
Gathering friends and family for communal dinners, canning peaches and applesauce to sustain us all winter and sharing from our surplus when the zucchini has outpaced our ability to eat it all.
Over the last few months we’ve been plotting what to grow this season. I’m excited about fresh herbs and growing garlic for the first time. Juniper is interested in edible flowers and a new type of berry we recently discovered (Yezberries), and Indi has her heart set on carrots. Red and purple varieties.
And planning menus based on what’s in season; crisp asparagus, sun warmed strawberries, snap peas, spicy radishes and tomatoes that seem to be an entirely different thing altogether than the imposters we buy at the market most of the year.
Things to look forward to after our long Winter hibernation. Ways of connecting with and caring for ourselves and for each other.
So whether you’re looking forward to planting a garden, visiting your local Farmer’s Market or just enjoying this season . . .
Here are 7 Simple Recipes to Celebrate Spring:
All perfect for sharing with those you love. Enjoy!
xx
Ashley