Sharing plants is more than just sharing the organic material. It is sharing a living connection with family, friends, and neighbors. Geoff Ledgerwood’s roots are in rural Washington state. It’s there that he inherited generational wisdom about the neighborly practice of dividing plants. 

My family and I joined Monroe Organic Farms’ CSA this past year. Each week, Monroe would drop off a handful of shares at a neighbor’s home, and everyone would come by to pick up their vegetables. Along with getting big bags of beautiful produce each week, I got to know the Monroe family more deeply, along with Mary Ann, my neighbor, who sat in her garage for two hours every week distributing the farm shares.

Our family first joined a community garden when our kids were in elementary school. At the time, we didn’t know much about growing food, and we lived in a townhome with a small shady yard that had yielded two seasons of disappointment. We quickly discovered that gardening in the company of others gave us access to a wealth of knowledge and opportunity. Alongside neighbors—many of whom we might not have met otherwise—we dug, planted, watered, and weeded, and slowly learned the rhythm of life in the garden.

The practice of planting a garden is an embodied way to engage both the people and place where you live. It is a practice of forgiveness and gratitude. It is an invitation to be present and patient. It is an opportunity to slowly walk and see what is growing.