Hands In The Dirt: Herbs, Humor and a Little Healing

The Spice of Life

When I was a little girl, my dad had a garden in the backyard. He grew rhubarb, tomatoes, peppers, and all sorts of spices. I can still picture him out there in the sunshine, his hands covered in soil, looking so at home among the rows of plants. As a little girl, I didn’t always understand why he loved it so much. Until I started “helping” him.  I was always a bit of a tomboy and was definitely not afraid of a little dirt.  I liked having messy knees and playing with worms. My dad taught me that his garden was more than food—it was life, patience, and pride.  And he handled it with care.

Years ago, I wrote a series on my blog called Hands in the Dirt. I loved the title because it felt true not just about gardening, but about living. Life is messy. Growth is messy. Healing is messy. It’s ALL messy.  But if you’re willing to get our hands in the dirt—literally or metaphorically—that’s where you find the good stuff.

Still, to this day, I love putting my hands in the dirt and growing things. I’m not great at everything. To be honest, I’ve killed more than a few tomatoes in my time, and cucumbers seem to have it out for me. But herbs? Herbs and I get along. I can grow them inside or outside. They don’t ask too much, they forgive me when I forget them for a day or two, and they reward me with delicious flavors, amazing fragrance, and the occasional reminder that life doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful.

Why Herbs Are My Friends

I think part of the reason I love herbs so much is because they’re approachable. You don’t need acres of land or fancy equipment. You don’t need to be a master gardener. You can start with a little clay pot on your windowsill and a packet of seeds. Or you can pick up a starter plant at your local Lowe’s or Tractor Supply.  Herbs are small but mighty.

There’s also something deeply grounding about caring for my herbs. Snipping basil leaves or brushing your fingers along a rosemary stem is like a built-in pause button. It pulls me out of my head and back into my body. It reminds me to breathe. It’s a tiny act of nurturing that feels like self-care, even though it’s technically plant care. I cannot walk past a rosemary plant in a store without running my hands over it and smelling it.  Grocery store, nursery, Lowe’s….  doesn’t matter.  I do it every time.  And every time it makes me pause and breathe.

For me, growing herbs is kind of a spiritual practice. It’s patience in action. It’s presence. It’s a daily reminder that growth doesn’t happen overnight, but with a little attention, it always comes.

My Favorites

Over the years, I’ve experimented with a lot of different herbs, but there are a handful that I always seem to return to.  My faithful little friends in their little pots.

Basil -Basil is my go-to. I love tossing it into salads, making pesto, or making a Caprese salad. There’s something about the smell of basil that feels like summer, even in the dead of winter. The words I think of when I think of basil are bright, uplifting, and especially the word generous! I swear it grows faster than I can use it!

Rosemary - Rosemary is tougher, sturdier, almost like the wise old man of the herb world. It’s wonderful on roasted veggies, potatoes, or even infused in olive oil. I love to go out and pick some before I bake chicken.  I put some under the skin of the chicken breasts and bake it.  But my favorite way to enjoy rosemary is the simplest: just running my fingers along the stem and inhaling the scent. Instant aromatherapy. Rosemary reminds me to slow down.

Mint - Ah, and then there’s mint. Peppermint, Spearmint, any kind of mint!  You can put it in fresh tea, infused water, really…. Any drimk. It’s just refreshing. Mint is like the teenager of the herb garden though.  It grows fast and furious, stretching, and popping up in places you didn’t expect. I currently have mint trying to grow into my rosemary plant.

Lavender - Technically more of a flower, but I always include it in my herb lineup. Lavender is calming, whether I use it in tea, tucked into a sachet for my pillow, or just growing in the garden where I can catch a whiff when I walk by. It’s like the garden’s lullaby.

Ideas that fail…

Not everything I’ve tried to grow has worked out. Some plants thrive; others quit on me. Some never ever begin. And every now and then, I get ambitious with ideas that never really take root.

Case in point: the rock painting phase I talked about in my previous post. Yes, at one point I thought I was going to take up painting designs or inspirational quotes on rocks. I had this vision of leaving them in parks and along walking trails for strangers to find (which people ended up doing during COVID – they stole my idea!).  I wanted to paint at least one rock to put in each of my planters to symbolize something to do with the particular herb that was in the planter.  I thought it was such a great idea and something I would really enjoy.   I never bought the paint.

Another time, Jim built me a planter box in our back yard so I could plant more vegetables.  I had tomatoes and cucumbers and a couple other things.  We knew the bunnies would likely try to eat everything so we put fencing around it.  It was fairly tall.  Tall enough that I couldn’t just reach over to do anything.  We put a latch where the fence came together so I could open it like a gate.  Everything was going well until we realized the deer could stretch their necks over the top of the fencing and eat the plants.  We took the planter box down the next year.

Sometimes our ideas don’t need to go anywhere. Sometimes it’s enough that they made us smile.

Are Herbs Spiritual?

To me, yes.

Herbs aren’t just for cooking or decorating. They’re healers in their own little quiet way. Basil is said to symbolize love. Rosemary represents remembrance and calm. Lavender brings calm. Mint offers refreshment and liveliness.  They all have their own special powers. 

When I’m clipping mint for tea or water or sprinkling rosemary over chicken, I feel connected to the Universe. People have been doing this for centuries, across cultures and continents. There’s something so special about going to your garden (or pot) and picking the herbs that you will use to cook with. 

My son and his family were over one time and I was making chicken.  I asked my granddaughter to go pick me some rosemary off the rosemary plant.  At first, I think she thought I was joking.  She just looked at me for a minute and then said, “Really?”.  When I said yes, I could tell she was really excited to be picking something we would be eating.

Herbs grow, I harvest, they grow again. Sometimes they die back, but given the right conditions, they return. Isn’t that just like us?

Gardening and Life

Every time I step into the garden—or even just tend to a pot on the patio—I’m reminded of life lessons that herbs teach better than any book.

• Patience: You can’t rush growth. No amount of staring at the basil will make it sprout faster.

• Resilience: A plant that looks half-dead can surprise you with new shoots if you give it time and care.

• Humor: No matter how much you want cilantro, sometimes it just says nope.

• Presence: Gardening isn’t about yesterday’s weeds or tomorrow’s harvest—it’s about today’s hands in the dirt.

Herbs may seem small, but they carry a quiet wisdom. They flavor our meals, give fragrance to  our homes, and remind us that growth doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful.

So if you haven’t already: plant an herb. Just one. Put it on your windowsill, your porch, or in your backyard. Start with basil or mint—something forgiving. Watch it grow. Use it. Let it teach you.

In the end, herbs aren’t just about cooking. They’re about connection—to the earth, and to tradition, .

Hands in the dirt, heart wide open—that’s where the magic happens.