On the first 70 degree day of spring, I watched my mom unpack her gardening tools out of the shed and open up her garden. I watched from inside– despite my love of nature, gardening has always felt like an unobtainable skill for me. At the same time, the beginning of 2025 sent me into a politically-induced paralysis and isolation, resembling the anxiety I felt during the peak of COVID-19 and the beginning of a political uprising against anti-blackness across the US. I felt it was even more important to add gardening to my wellness practices that already includes other ways of interacting with the Earth. I spoke with Amber Grossman, the creator of the Black Girls Gardening community and author of Black Girls Gardening: Empowering Stories and Garden Wisdom for Healing and Flourishing in Nature, for her take on starting a garden to maintain mindfulness and wellness as a Black woman.
“Although gardening in itself seems like a solitary act, it forges a path for connecting with your community.”
“I didn't always garden.” Growing up, Amber’s grandparents owned an acre of property in upstate New York, where they had their own fruit trees. Although she was not allowed in the garden as a child, when Amber moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 2017 she knew it was the time to start one of her own. Her first garden was small, consisting of cucumbers, peppers, and a couple herbs in a raised bed.
For Amber, her gardening became a refuge for her to manage her mental health during the global pandemic. “You're out in the sun. You're tending to your plants. It's a release of all that tension and anxiety I felt during that time.” Gardening affects your body and your mind. The repetitive tasks of pulling weeds and planting seeds sends you into a meditative flow state, and the physical exercise releases endorphins and boosts your mood. “You're connecting with Earth.”
Image Courtesy of Black Girls Gardening Instagram
Black Girls Gardening, is a product of Amber’s desire to connect with other gardeners and farmers. “For Black and Brown people, gardening is a way for us to connect with our land.” Amber pointed out that the amount of Black people who own land and can farm and grow food is not comparable to our white counterparts. On an individual level, growing food allows us to maintain a healthier diet by including organic fruits and vegetables. Creating access to nutritious foods for ourselves and our community is direct action against food insecurity shaped by redlining and socioeconomic inequality. “It's important that we try to grow our own food, connect with people in our community of Black and Brown farmers, and reclaim a little bit of what's ours.”
As we navigate the present time where the world around us feels as though it will get worse before it gets better, how does one start their own garden to stay afloat, and save our own worlds?
Amber recommends that beginner gardeners start small and grow the food that they like. “People sometimes get carried away with wanting to have pretty gardens and grow a bunch of food. Sometimes it goes to waste, because if you don't eat it, or if you're not super passionate about those things, you have less of a tendency to take care of them.” Starting with a couple plants or food that you are excited about growing, and that you or your family enjoy eating is important, so that you are going to want to see it through to the end.
Amber also recommends doing the proper research on your climate to make sure your garden is appropriate for what you want to grow. “If you have a bunch of land you can make it work, but if you have a small tight area, or just an apartment or a balcony, you have to take into consideration your sun.” If you live in an urban area and don’t have access to space and sun, look into smaller, low light tolerant options such as kale, spinach, and mustard microgreens. Consider using fluorescent or LED grow lights to help supplement low light areas. Also, you can look into local resources, like community gardens and cooperative extension agencies.
Image Courtesy of Black Girls Gardening Instagram
Although gardening in itself seems like a solitary act, it forges a path for connecting with your community by providing opportunities to give and receive mutual support and ideas for your garden. The radical care of growing food to feed your community fosters relationships that are important to maintain in times that can feel isolating. “It gives you a sense of accomplishment, when you grow something and you're able to bring it to family and friends, or you're able to make a dish out of it.”
Amber has watched other Black and Brown women grow from small scale gardeners into farmers selling their produce to their communities. Seeing the positive direction gives her hope that Black and Brown women will continue to make larger positive changes on the gardening and farming community in the next 5-10 years.
I left my conversation with Amber with a sense of hope, not only for Black and Brown gardeners and farmers, but for the possibility of connection with other Black and Brown people during a time where mutual support is integral. I thought about how I watched my mom, a Black woman, start with a tomato plant on our window sill and grow into building her own chicken coop in our backyard and harvesting collard greens, cabbage, and beets to feed our family. Her gardening has not only kept her grounded, but influenced our community to be mindful of our physical and mental wellness by watching her thrive. Gardening and connecting with the Earth is a pathway for us to connect with our kin, build stronger communities, and protect our mental and physical health.
Cover artwork by Joanna Blémont. Orginally featured in Issue No. 6: Eating Good.
