In the middle of winter, its a perfect time for a gardener to dream. (On MLK day: I have a dream.) I dreamt a lot last night. Dreamt my piano teacher kicked me out of class, dreamt I forgot to feed my chickens for a week. My night time dreams tend to be my little worries.

I thought today was a good time to think about bigger dreams. Maybe not anything I can do anything about, but if they’re written down, maybe it means something.

I have a dream…

– That someday everyone will have access to garden space and knowledge on how to grow their own food

– That everyone would have enough food, eat food that tastes good, food they know the source of, that they know has no pesticides in it, that farm workers hadn’t been exposed to toxins to grow it, and that the land it grew on was still healthy

– That everyone could have the opportunity to be involved with growing their food and taste how good tastes when you dig the dirt, you plant the seeds and you tend the plants

– That everyone would have the opportunity to be part of a community where people from different backgrounds grow together according to their heritage or preference and share their knowledge and maybe part of their harvest with everyone

This last dream is from my experience at the community garden I manage. I think it does work this way. Maybe you could take out the garden references and make it a generic wish… that all could live harmoniously according to their heritage or preference and be able to share with their community.

That’s it. Some big wishes but I don’t often think about them outright. I go about planning and planting, sharing my garden journal and helping to manage our community garden. Hopefully this contributes something positive.

I’ve had some great discussions with my college-aged son. Maybe my dreams aren’t realistic. If all people grew their own food then everyone wouldn’t have enough to eat, he tells me. If we forgo pesticides and protect our soils then we can’t grow enough. Also, there’s no way everyone can plant seeds or would even want to. OK. I can’t argue. I’m just doing my little thing and dreaming….