Plant Your Seeds, Watch Them Grow
A question I often get asked is “If you could eat dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?” My answer has changed through different stages of my life. Once it was Michelle Obama, and other times it was Theodor Herzl. My current answer, and one that I think will stick with me for a while, is Darina Allen.
Darina has accomplished so many things in her life. She’s a famous Irish chef and food writer, as well as the co-founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School. She’s known around the world for her bright personality and wealth of knowledge about food and farming. But, if you asked Darina what she was most proud of and what the most fulfilling part of her life was, I’m sure she’d say that it was simply having the ability to grow food. On my first day at Ballymaloe, Darina took all of the students on a tour of the 100 acre organic farm. We moved around the herb gardens as she encouraged us to indulge in all of the edible plants around us. The abundance was mind blowing, and we all began to fathom just how dedicated Darina was to not only producing organic food, but also sharing that passionate message with others. She mentioned that to some people, luxury is a designer handbag. To her, it’s being able to grow her own food.
The message of making something extraordinary out of something so minuscule is a really powerful one. It’s a wonder to see what can become of just a single seed planted in the earth. I have the fondest memories of Darina circulating the kitchens during the morning cooking sessions, urging us to think about how we can use every single food scrap. Extra veg? Let’s throw it in a soup. Chicken skin? Crisp it up for a topping. Egg shells? Composted. Onion peels? Into the stock pot.
This practice of not wasting anything and having an appreciation for getting the most out of these different things seeped into the crevices of our lives. We learned to not waste food, or our time. When I wasn’t cooking, I was learning. When I wasn’t learning, I was writing. When I wasn’t writing, I was spending time outside disconnected from technology. We learned to grow food, and in turn to experience growth within ourselves. That’s one of the best things I learned from Darina and Ballymaloe; that cooking and growing teaches you more than just lessons with food, but rather it teaches you about how to live your life.
Plant your seeds and watch them grow, because every intentional thing that you do has to start somewhere. At our farewell lunch, I had the privilege of sitting next to Darina. She told the table to remember that while we might be going home to different environments that seem less abundant than the farm, we can still plant something and watch it grow. It might start out as just a simple herb, but eventually you’ll get the hang of it, and a whole garden will grow before your eyes. So here I am, back in Greenwich Village in a changing phase of my life, and I’m reminding myself to plant my seeds, water them, and give them time to grow and flourish.
