21. Growing a Garden (and a Writing Life) with Kate Spring
Did you know what you wanted to do after college? Neither did writer Kate Spring. My guest today took a winding path to becoming a farmer in Vermont, and today she’s running a farm, raising a family, and figuring out (through trial and error) the grounding practices that make it possible for her to return to the soil and the page year after year.
“Farming became a way to engage with what I was going through more honestly, and not try to push it aside. The process of doing chores or milking a goat or planting kohlrabi—there’s a lot of room for reflection.”
Highlights
Journaling as a conversation with the world
How a bad breakup and a summer internship set her on the path to farming
The hardest parts about running a farm, and how burnout led to making some big shifts
Reframing what “productive work” means, and why taking care of herself lays the foundation for all the other productive work
The power of starting the day with silence, tea, candles, and meditation
Guest Bio
Kate Spring is a writer and organic farmer at Good Heart Farmstead. She’s here to help you grow the organic farm or garden you dream of, and cultivate a flourishing creative practice. Because creativity is as essential as food.
Links + Resources
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Kundalini meditation with Sally Hope
Eat This Poem: A Literary Feast of Recipes Inspired by Poetry
Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer’s Path
