Let's Gather

Let’s Gather

Humans gather. It’s what we do. It’s what we long for. Yes, even most of us introverts, even most of us hermits, want to gather sometimes, in some way, though it may not be what you first think.

We gather with and from the land. We gather with animals, with plants, with soil. And we gather with each other. In the winter, when around here the light gets low, we gather around the fire. Spin fiber and spin stories. Save seeds. We gather to survive, to remember, to keep connection alive, to dream of the next season or the next world.

We gather. We gather together. We do it even when we don’t mean to, and even when it’s dangerous to do. We gather together to forge revolutions, to keep each other safe. We gather seeds, cuttings from trees, and keep them alive and hidden, even when systems of domination are trying to wipe us and our seeds out. Yes, we gather in refuge. We gather in celebration. We gather in mundanity.

We gather together. We gather our food, a collective act with humans and the beyond-human world, bodies, which overlap anyway, which is why we gather. We gather our materials and build our homes together. We gather our thoughts and share them over dinner together. We gather together to learn from each other and from the land.

We gather to laugh. We gather to grieve. We gather to play. We gather to touch.

And we gather to scheme. To dream the next world, and then plant its seeds today.

We gather to wash the dishes. We gather to feed the children. We gather to share the load. We gather to replenish to forest. We gather to keep salt on the table. We gather to learn the sounds of the birds.

And we gather to take care of each other when the system won’t.

But for the last three years, it has been (and remains) dangerous or difficult to gather, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not.

Disabled people like me, parents, elders, ill or immuncompormised folks, people working multiple jobs or night shifts, and honestly lots of other people for lots of other reasons, were already limited by the structures of our neighborhoods, communities, houses, cities, towns, systems, from accessing both the gathering of people, and the gathering of gardening.

At this point, may of us have been forced into such high levels of isolation, that the parts of our bodies and hearts that are meant to gather, that need to gather, are starved. Wary. Wounded. Gated. Exhausted. Longing.

Still, somewhere in there, flickers the light of the fire we gather by, with our seeds gathered, with our stories gathered. Ready to tell and re-tell the world. To connect by the hearth.

So let’s gather.

We have been given the gift of life in the age of the virtual hearth. We can gather around the digital fireside, with real seeds in our hands, and connect to each other. Learn. Gather knowledge. Share stories. Plant the future. Adapt our gathering and our gardening to OUR needs, joys, limitations, and longings.

And we can do it without spending hours in traffic. Without exposing ourselves to high-risk contagion environments. Without leaving our beds, if we need to. Or we can do it from the garden, from the outdoors.

Let’s gather. The ground and our hearts are thawing out. We are ready for each other. We are ready for stories and seeds.

Join the Garden Gatherers Spring 2023 cohort! Come gather! Connect with community and dig deliciously deeper into:

Edible garden design
Plant-tending
Permaculture & Ecology
Land-based living skills & crafts

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Join an online learning community of like-minded, liberation-loving folks who want to create accessible land-based practices and gardens, and connect to others doing the same in a covid-safe, community-centered container!

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