Gardening while Rome burns

...or as the world collapses around us

Welcome to Raw Milk Mama, a newsletter about food freedom, our food systems, and how to create local food security in our communities. As always, I appreciate any and all paid upgrades. I am a solo writer bringing you real, sometimes difficult, news from the front lines of our food system. Sign up here for weekly posts, or keep reading…

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The image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns is etched into many Western minds.

It’s THE symbol of being busy with nonsensical things while emergencies happen around you.

But today, it seems the whole earth is “burning” around us.

Everyone I talk to seems to have some kind of personal crisis on top of our constant doses of terror and awfulness from the cliched “world stage.”

It’s staggering the ways in which we are witnessing the implosion of institutions.

Indeed, we are witness to the collapse of countries with ripples that impact us all through the intangible tentacles of “global trade,” immigration, and undefinable instability.

Polarizing topics trigger conflict, leading to destruction of our communities and even families–the relationships that we count on most for resilience.

We can all-too-easily slip into deep despair just by thinking about some of what we are witnessing. (Josh Slocum articulates this well in his piece on “Why I Despair.”)

I know that I am not alone in feeling the angst and anxiety of this real-yet-existential crisis in our midst.

There is so much happening. Yet, no one can quite put their finger on it.

And we all feel it to one degree or another.

We are–in essence–watching Rome burn.

And this is why I garden.

But this does not equate to fiddling.

In fact, a concerted effort of taking responsibility towards our own food production—indeed our very means of survival—might be the only way to reclaim the pieces of broken systems, broken structures.

This simple, radical act might well be the catalyst for finding those who can bear witness to utter tragedy and still have the strength to keep going.

Now, I will share with you why I think it’s important to garden even (especially!) as society collapses around us.

If there is anything that can save us, those elements will be found in the garden.

It’s a place to reground and reroot to principles, to basic truths of how the world works, and how we work.

These are the very reasons that we must tend our gardens.

It is a physical place and yet an esoteric place. A sanctuary, and the realest, hardest place ever as we wrestle with the unwelcome weeds, pests, or weather and face the reality of our challenges–some surmountable, others not.

The garden is a place of connection.

It connects us to our past and to our future.

Seeds–a physical, tangible piece of the past, representing the bounty of a single season and the culmination of every season on earth.

And they represent hope for the future–that each seed will manifest into something real and worthy and nourishing.

The garden is a place of interconnectedness, where we can and do cast aside differences and work together towards one or more common goals.

A place where we can unite on the common ground that keeps us nourished and stores the water and nutrients we will need in the coming years.

Gardening is a practice as much as it is a result.

It is a process and a journey that can at once bring us closer to ourselves, to our creator and to each other.

Far from being a vapid expression of pointless fiddling, it is the very thing that can keep us sane through the treacherous paths we are on, and the only way to foster the resilience that will give us our tomorrows, a new culture, a new society.

Whether we know it or not, we are building these in every choice, in every action that we engage in.

There is no better way to do this than by finding peace and companionship in the garden.

Wherever you are–whoever you are—there is space for you.

There is a seed calling your name. 

And there is a tiny corner of earth that wants and needs your gift, your patience, your love and your devotion.

Please listen to that call and listen to the quiet voices whispering the things that only the earth and creator can tell you.

It is only through these radical acts of infinite love that we might build a world that we can live in.

It won’t be easy.

But what I can promise is that this small act of kindness towards yourself and your community—indeed the very soil under your feet—will bring us leaps and bounds towards the freedom, peace, and resilience that so many of us are working to build.

Get a shovel and let’s get started.

Rome is burning folks, but we can still create a revolution.

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About Raw Milk Mama: I believe that we can reclaim our food systems through direct action. But it takes your participation whether you’re growing food, processing, or willing to support those who are. And sometimes, it takes taking direct action or calling on your state or federal elected officials.

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