Planting Seeds
For over two weeks now I have been struggling with writing an article about planting trees. But I got stuck. Even without reading the daily papers, I could not avoid the rage/fear/confusion about the current U.S. government—those elected and not. My initial response was complete lethargy. Then a few days ago, at a small coffee bar in my village, on the omnipresent television screen was the sociopath-in-chief talking about taking over Gaza. (For what it's worth, the caption was: “…è ridiculo”, which needs no translation.) I became angry. Not just with the political situation… angry with everyone who has ignored the environmental disaster-in-waiting for over fifty years. I came home, went into the garden, sat down on the earth and began to pound the soil with a hand hoe. And though I am an advocate of no-till and, with apologies to the billions of microorganisms I was injuring or perhaps destroying, I needed to be digging in the earth to find my balance. The soil was heavy and waterlogged from the amount of rain we have had but, amazingly, the energy I used to release my rage actually aerated the earth. I stood up, stepped back, and looked at that patch of ground. My anger had transformed the soil, the compacted water-saturated mud, into fine earth perfect for planting seeds. I grabbed a flat of fava bean seeds I was germinating, made holes in the soil with my fingers and stuck one bean seed in each hole. I watered them. The rage passed. I felt better. I felt productive. That was all I was capable of doing that entire afternoon... planting seeds. It was not lost on me that this was also a symbolic gesture. With the waxing moon, the cotyledons emerged within a few days. (Above) Triumph.
And so, I plant. I keep pounding the ground, accompanied by several jars of saved seeds... I am lifted from my lethargy by the promise of arugula, endive, radicchio, lettuce, chicory... and resilience.
I will continue planting seeds.
February 2025
In a previous lifetime, Zia Gallina worked as a botanist for the National Parks Service, on the C&O Canal outside of Washington D.C. (lecturing on wild indigenous and naturalized medicinal and culinary plants). She was also an adjunct professor teaching biology and environmental science at American University, Washington D.C. But she has always been a champion of small-scale biointensive farming, tagging behind Mother Nature, trying to stay as close as she can get.
