Lessons Mental Health Nursing Taught Me About Growing Food
I never planned to connect my life as a mental health nurse with designing permaculture gardens. But the more time I spent away from the hospital and outside with my hands in the earth the more I realised: I was still caring. I was caring for Mother Earth and for myself.
Observe First, Always
In nursing, we’re trained to assess before we intervene. We take the time to observe—to see body language, eye contact, subtle behaviours that may require us to intervene. In permaculture, observation is the first principle. Before planting, we sit. We learn the lay of the land. We watch how water flows, where the sun lingers, how the wind whispers through trees. We observe first, and intervene second.
Healing Happens in Layers
Whether it’s trauma or soil degradation, healing isn’t linear. In both spaces, healing happens slowly. Recovery takes time. Just as soil is layered, so is trauma, the grief, fatigue, fear and the need for safety. Healing requires us to peel away the layers, to listen, to add nutrients, to trust the process and know with every layer we are breaking down the past and cultivating a rich environment for us to grow again.
People Care is Earth Care
Tending to a garden grounds us. I’ve seen anxious minds settle with the rhythm of sowing seeds and harvesting produce. I've felt grief soften when my hands were busy mulching, watering, pruning. I have seen anger dissipate while moving wheelbarrows of soil. There is something so profoundly therapeutic about being in the garden, getting our hands dirty, and being part of something bigger than ourselves.
There’s Power in Purpose
In both nursing and permaculture, purpose is a powerful medicine. Whether it’s watching someone regain a sense of autonomy after a mental health crisis or seeing a neglected garden bloom again—purpose is what sustains us.
From Burnout to Balance
While I love nursing, permaculture gives me what nursing can’t: Rhythm & rest. Working in the clinic for over a decade taught me how to hold space for others often at the expense of myself; working on the farm these past few years has taught me how to hold space for myself, to cultivate balance, to rest.
I’d love to hear how the garden holds you x