Wendell Berry: Gardening as Health Regimen and Holy Sacrament

When it comes to crusading for sustainability and the environment I don't have any grand schemes. Maybe because I'm rather simple minded, I have a simple plan - start a vegetable garden, grow your own food and change the world. If I could impose my will on every American for the sake of the environment it wouldn't be to change light bulbs or mandate carbon footprints. My mandate would be for every American to start a garden and grow their own food (and to have chickens, but I know that would never fly so I'll stick with the garden for now) And maybe the fact that we don't live in a world of mandates and impositions makes it all that much more appealing. It seems a rather harmless proposition on the face of it, but beware, starting a garden is a revolutionary act.

You may go into it for the heavenly taste of a heirloom tomato fresh off the vine, but you'll soon find yourself on holy ground. Wendell Berry describes both the pragmatic and cosmic consequences of starting a garden in his book of essays, The Art of the Common Place;

Only by restoring the broken connections can we be healed. Connection is health. And what our society does its best to disguise from us is how ordinary, how commonly attainable, health is. We lose our health - and create profitable diseases and dependencies - by failing to see the direct connections between living and eating, eating and working, working and loving. In gardening, for instance, one works with the body to feed the body. The work, if it is knowledgable, makes for excellent food. And it makes one hungry. The work thus makes eating both nourishing and joyful, not consumptive, and keeps the eater from getting fat and weak. This is health, wholeness, a source of delight. And such a solution, unlike the typical industrial solution, does not cause problems.

The 'drudgery' of growing one's own food, then, is not drudgery at all. (If we make the growing of food a drudgery, which is what 'agribusiness' does make of it, then we also make a drudgery of eating and living.) It is - in addition to being the appropriate fulfillment of a practical need - a sacrament, as eating is also, by which we enact and understand our oneness with the Creation, the conviviality of one body with all bodies.

So, for heaven's sakes, start a garden. At minimum you'll get fresh tomatoes, but beware you may get more than you bargained for.

Comments

[Christine Sine]

Great post. I love Wendell Berry and am just in the process of planting my garden for the year. I find that the garden is a wonderful place for sacramental moments and for discovering the sacrimentality of all of life
Blessings

[Craig]

Christine,
What an honor to have you on the blog - I have admired your work for quite some time. Blessings.

[Ryan Bell]

Great stuff, Craig! You'd appreciate that our church just started doing some urban gardening and hope to turn a part of our church parking lot into a garden. How's that for a sign of the kingdom? Replacing blacktop with a garden in Los Angeles.

[Ryan Bell]

I'm also sharing your blog with my friend, Kori. She organizes our environmental and food justice initiatives in Hollywood.

[craig]

Hey Ryan,
Great to hear about what you're up to in L.A.
Keep me posted on the urban garden. I'd love to post about it once you're up and running.
Look forward to catching up some time.
Craig

[Corrine Galván]

Hello Craig. I am the aforementioned friend of Ryan's, Corrine Galvan, or Kori in most cases. This is excellent work here. I'm very impressed and excited about the happenings in Spokane. I have created a link on my blog to yours and you are always welcome to check us out at www.harvestjustice.wordpress.com. Keep up all the good work.

[Wiselywoven]

Hi Craig,
I was wondering if we could feature this post on our Sustainable Traditions blogazine? I would give you credit, a link back and if you give me a one sentence bio about yourself I'll include it after the post.

If you are interested you can let me know via Twitter: @sustainabletrad.

-shalom!
Jason F
Sustainable Traditions co-founder

[Michelle Sidles]

I'm finding this to be true. Granted, I'm pretty simple minded, too. ;) But I used to DREAD meal planning & cooking. But now... I'm hovering over my windowsill garden (alongside my daughter) eagerly checking for newly sprouted plants. I'm happily playing in the dirt and compost (alongside my son) as we prepare our raised bed. Food is no longer drudgery. Food is a family pastime. :) What a great post.

[Michelle Sidles]

p.s. I'd love a post on adding chickens into the mix. We have cats. I'm not going to get rid of them. Is there a way to have chickens & cats coexist? Was your wife on board with the chickens? What are the benefits? Thanks~ :)

[Craig]

Michelle,
I'll do a chicken post later in the week. It was about this time last year that we got our chicks. Glad to hear you're enjoying your garden.

[David Freels]

I was searching for Wendell Berry and google bought me to your page. I started gardening a year ago and it has become as ingrained in my soul as the dirt in the ridges of my fingers. I began a blog a couple of months ago to share my thoughts and pictures. I am a rank amateur, but that's part of it too. I'm at prodigalsoil.blogspot.com
Blessings,
David Freels

[craig]

David,
Your blog looks great. I've added you to my blogroll. Wendell Berry has been a real mentor from afar for me. I have a book due out in March sharing our story and it includes a lot of Wendell Berry. You can go to http://www.yearofplenty.org/wendell-berry/ to see all my Wendell Berry references. I'll make sure to keep checking back on how things are coming.
Craig

[David Freels]

Thanks Craig, I've added you to my list too. We planted a church across town that is doing a community garden and I'm going to send your blog to that pastor as well. My writing is basically just things I notice that may connect to other things that are going on in me. It's a spiritual discipline and a sacred space. I finally decided to join the 21st century and create a space to share instead of cramming it into facebook posts.
I look forward to going through your writings.
Peace,
David