Notes from a Pregnant Gardener

On August 2nd, I planted a garden. I was pregnant and impatient, so I ordered seeds online. Several days later, boxes from Pennsylvania showed up at my door. I put them in the ground with no expectations. I had grown herbs and some humble peppers in pots before but I’ve never put seeds in the ground.

I couldn’t tell if my plan would work, but there was life in the soil. Dirt worms, birds, squirrels, and the most telling sign that maybe a garden would survive, weeds. Some were taller than me. I had to get help pulling them up just to reveal what would be my blank canvas. The soil felt refreshing to touch. Especially in the morning. It turns out that twenty something thousand seeds require space, which was my first of many lessons learned. I dumped as many seeds as I could in short rows of the hershey brown soil. The rows looked like giant white candy nerds ropes that I covered with dirt, and some feeder I bought at a local nursery. I was so excited that I probably overwatered them, and stared over them as if they owed me anything. It was nearing the end of August, my due date approaching, when I started to see tiny spots of green sprouting out of the ground. Just amazing.

24 hours after delivering, my partner Jack and I rushed home at the thought of holding our daughter in our arms together in the comfort of our own home. In her first few days of life, I brought her down to the garden I planted while she was growing inside of me, and in the weeks that followed, I’d be picking from it as if it had been waiting for us. There was something really beautiful and special about those weeks. I had a new baby, too many green beans, and a brand new perspective on life cycles. My Pregnant Garden reminded me how precious and exciting life can be. And the gifts that you receive from being patient, hopeful, and careful.