Garden Zoomies

My relationship with food in my early twenties was a chaotic hot mess. Just like most young women, I fell right into the “beauty standard” trap, which at the time was changing from being super model skinny to fitness model fit. In my pursuit to achieving the “ideal” body, I stumbled upon so many rabbit holes that made me question everything about our food system.

I stumbled upon the vegan lifestyle after almost two years of eating a restrictive bodybuilding diet. Something I really enjoyed about the vegan lifestyle was the idea of coexisting with nature and animals, even though I didn’t really understand what that meant the way I do today. During that time I also became a tree hugging hippie and was drawn to Hawaii (a place that changed me forever).

Hawaii is such a special place for me, because it opened my eyes to a different way of living. A life could be in harmony and balance with nature. I’ll never forget staying in Jeff’s tree house on the Big Island. When my husband and I got to the tree house (the Airbnb) we were greeted by Jeff who proceeded to tell us his plans to plant a fruit forest in his property. I was so intrigued and that conversation planted a homesteading seed in my heart.

A few years later on my babymoon, I was so incredibly lucky to stay in the coolest place in all of Kaua’i. It was similar to my stay at Jeff’s tree house. The owner of the property was Hawaiian by blood, so he was passionate about living in harmony with the Aina (the land) and his Airbnb reflected that. He had the most beautiful yurt in his backyard and he was turning his land into a food forest. He had bees, chickens, and endless amount of fruit trees and a salad garden next to the outdoor kitchen. I remember telling myself that I was going to recreate this experience in my own home.

I can’t explain the feeling of growing a flower or a tomato in a broken world ruled by greed. I don’t trust our food system. My distrust of the food system began back when I was orthorexic, it’s one of the best things that came out of that chaos. Also, being hippie at heart, I just naturally crave a life that goes against the norm. And in today’s climate, growing your own food and learning the basics of self sustainability in any scale, feels rebellious, in the best way.

All of that to say that growing your own food (in whatever capacity you can) and reclaiming that lost art and those incredibly valuable skills can be such a rewarding rabbit hole to dive into!