WORLD WE IMAGINE - Part 1

 Anastazja Ball

World We Imagine Part 1

Since my childhood, I have always thought back to the garden plot my family on my mothers side had owned, one patch of many that lied amongst the Polish countryside. I miss it dearly, I miss running around in the fields with the smell of fresh dirt, sweet trees, and the smell of polish food being fried in the shed. I miss the warm tea that warmed us up with the sun in the morning, and spending hours with my little brother picking raspberries off the bushes and carrots out of the ground. That feeling is one of the most memorable moments from my childhood, one that is so personal and shaping to my connection with food, family, and the earth. If I had the chance to change the world, even in the smallest of ways, I would advocate for gardens. There are many reasons gardens are so important, from the obvious ability to learn how to grow and eat your own food, learning to tend to nature and have patience with the seeds you have planted, but also just the community and emotional space is just as important.

The world seems to be burning, everyday our food sources seem to come up with a new pesticide, plastic, or disease that is further turning our fresh and whole foods into inedible items. Learning how to grow and tend to your own garden is an incredibly important aspect of life, as our bodies benefit most from fresh foods. Raspberries grown over a season are the most flavorful and fresh tasting things I had ever eaten, nothing processed from the grocery store would ever match that. With growing a garden, after some time and patience you also come out with a large supply of endless fresh foods, and this is not only good for the environment but our wallets as well. 

A dream of mine is to have a garden full of plentiful and fresh fruits, but not so that I could eat them; but so I can share them with neighbors and family. My favorite gift ever received was pomegranates from a friend's family tree. I was given an entire bucket of them, and they were the best tasting pomegranates I had ever tried. That gift had felt more meaningful than anything I had been given knowing someone had spent time tending and growing these foods and wanted to share them. I believe that notions like these are so meaningful and would change communities and families for the better. 

I have noticed in the US a lack of garden plots; not the kind that sit in a person's private backyard, but large fields where many people can go to have their own piece of land next to other neighbors.. The one I had experience in Poland was tucked away at the back of the neighborhood, where families would all visit, especially during the summer time. Each plot had a shed, and about a basketball court size field dedicated to whatever they wished to grow. Garden neighbors would share tea and their mornings together, sometimes aiding advice to each other's garden over a beer and some pierogies. A popular conversation that occurs often is the lack of third spaces, and this would solve such issues as well. A community space where people can gather, share the (literal and figurative) fruits of their labor, and become friends with nature. 

Outside of all of my career dreams and aspirations, I have always dreamed of having my own garden plot, to be a continuation of the traditions that my grandma and her grandmother carried, to share love through food and nature. Nature is a basic human necessity, gardens are the source of fresh food and life and I believe that this would shape the world and communities in a very positive way.