2023 03: Something to Gardening
Trees sleep in the winter. Then every Spring, they begin to warm up their limbs, stretch their branches to the sky and grow new leaves—fresh, green chlorophyl. There really is nothing like seeing the earth wake up every Spring after what always feels like the longest winter in history. It is one of my favorite parts of living in a place with seasons.
In case you didn’t know, New York T is a plant whisperer. She has 2 community gardens in her rotation. Her indoor plant family thrives. She propogates with ease. Her friends call her to revive sick plant babes. …California T could barely keep a cactus alive to save her life. This was over 6 years ago now though and, just like plants, people grow.
My parents were great gardeners. They grow orchids and eggplants and orange trees and lemons in their little suburban backyard. When i was a kid I remember wanting to plant sunflowers. My mom bought me a pack of seeds and told me where to plant them. I threw them into the dirt and possibly watered them once. Then in what seemed like over night, the sunflowers were GIANT. and there were too many of them. They towered over our fence and had such giant stalks, flowers pointing straight up to the sun. I don’t think I knew then that they grew that tall or that their stalks were so thick (sunflowers are so phallic!)—I was terrified. There were also bees everywhere. Even more terrifying. I was over it. Inside, no more sunflowers for me.
When I went off to college and each time I moved to a new place, my mom would bring me a plant to care for. I’m not sure why she would do it—they always died. Maybe she knew deep down I had this skill too. Maybe she just wanted me to have a piece of her growing with me, watching over my home. Maybe it was a little bit of both. Eventually I learned how to keep them alive, just before I moved to the east coast. Who knew plants needed to drink so much water? This time it was my turn to bring my plants to her to take care of. And they’re still there. Unlike me, she didn’t sacrifice them to the elements. They’re now part of her plant family.
Six years later, now that I’m no longer fighting with my plants, I decided I want to try my luck at gardening. Nothing too fussy, but challenging enough. I bought a garden bed, a bunch of soil and some seeds—tomato, some herbs, marigolds, and a few envelopes of seeds I’d saved myself. I also have a pack of Lupine seeds my mom gave me last fall. We’re just beginning the growing season, but I cant help but look at my little sprouts in awe and gratitude. It’s a far cry from the “phases of death” drawings I made of the succulents that were sentenced to a slow death under my watch in the Valley. Maybe now I should begin a series called “Signs of Life.”
Someone once told me when you hold seeds, you hold life, and I cannot believe how much I took those tiny lives for granted. All the seeds in the center of those bright yellow petals soaring in the sky were signs of life. The happy bees buzzing..also signs of life. Was I—Little T staring up at those bees and yellow giants—terrified of life?
Whatever it was, here I am today an anomaly to my past self. The earth and my family showing me every year how easy it can be to grow and change. I guess there’s something to gardening after all.
Upcoming at HypoFutures Studio:
Apr 6: Spring Coloring Pages available for download via gumroad
Work with Trishia:
Art, Crochet, Meditation, Tarot, Death Work
Trishia is a teacher. She teaches folks how to be themselves through creativity. By listening deeply and encouraging connection to self, body and collective, she is able to notice patterns and guide individuals and community through mediations and grief.
Image: Jo’s Bear. A TrauMonster created in collaboration with a 4 year old child to process their grief.
