Spring is slowly creeping in, and with it, the gardening excitement is rising in me again. After a full winter’s pause, I feel the pull of the soil, the seeds, and the rhythm of growth returning.
But I’ll be honest—this winter was hard. Each time I bought vegetables at the shop, I fought back tears. Vegetables I knew I could grow myself. My inner voice always asked, HOW do people do this? How do you buy vegetables and just be okay with it?
And yet, for the first time in seven years of growing something in my garden, I gave myself permission to stop. To let the soil rest. To let myself rest.
That pause was uncomfortable, but it was necessary. It gave me time to reflect:
- On the abundance of harvests, we have enjoyed.
- On the lessons hidden in each mistake.
- On how far the garden—and I—have come.
Most importantly, it gave me perspective on how gardening connects to my work as a birth doula.
Gardening and Pregnancy: The Same Rhythm
Both gardening and pregnancy require patience, nurturing, and trust. You plant a seed, care for it, and wait as it grows in its own time. You cannot rush it. You cannot control every detail. You can only create the right environment, offer steady care, and surrender to nature’s wisdom.
Pregnancy, like gardening, asks us to slow down and believe in what is happening beneath the surface—even when we cannot see it.
Just as soil sometimes needs to rest and replenish, so too do mothers. And just as a garden flourish best when tended with love and presence, so do women as they prepare to bring life into the world.
A New Season, A New Journey
This winter’s pause has shown me that my garden is more than food—it is a teacher. It reflects the cycles of birth, growth, loss, and renewal that I see in my doula work. It reminds me that the act of tending—whether it’s soil, a plant, or a mother—is sacred.
I do not have all the answers yet, but I know this: the garden will be part of my path forward. A place of nourishment, of healing, of teaching. A reminder that growth, whether in the soil or in the womb, is always worth waiting for.
Here is to spring. To new seeds. To new beginnings.
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