Kristen welcomes me into the collective garden and I'm transported from the busy borough of Point-Saint-Charles in Montreal to a lush vegetable garden oasis. Each laboriously cared for row of raised garden is filled with resplendent vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants—including tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, countless varieties of lettuces, eggplants, marigold, and shiso (my new favourite herb that Kristen describes with a flavour at the intersection of curry and basil). I've been in the garden barely five minutes and I'm already learning so much, inspired by Kristen's infectious enthusiasm for healthy vegetables and radical politics. For her, an important aspect of her mental health is her engagement with socio-political issues, and taking power over her food system is one way to achieve food autonomy.
Kristen m'accueille au jardin collectif et du coup, je me vois transportée de l'arrondissement grouillant de Point-Saint-Charles, Montréal, à un oasis d’abondance végétale. Chaque rangée du jardin est travaillée avec soin et remplie de légumes, fines herbes et plantes médicinales: on y trouve entre autres des tomates et tomates cerises, plusieurs variétés de laitues, des aubergines, des tagètes et du shiso, une de mes saveurs préférées, laquelle Kristen décrit comme étant à l’intersection du cari et du basilic. Ça fait à peine 5 minutes que je suis dans le jardin et j’apprends déjà beaucoup, inspirée par l’enthousiasme contagieux de Kristen pour les légumes sains et les idées politiques radicales. À ses yeux, un aspect important de sa santé mentale est son engagement socio-politique. Prendre le pouvoir sur son alimentation est une façon d’atteindre une autosuffisance alimentaire.
Kristen moves around the garden, giving careful care and attention where it's needed. As she trims some late-season cherry tomatoes, I precariously balance between two garden beds, using tomato vines in the foreground to frame her smiling face and strong arms. And while Kristen waters some spinach, I catch the natural light of that sparkling late September sun as it spills over her shoulders. We move around the garden making photographs together, and I'm spoiled by fresh vegetables that Kristen picks for me. I'm careful to incorporate different elements of the large collective garden in each environmental portrait.
Kristen se déplace dans le jardin avec intention, portant son attention où on en demande. Elle coupe quelques plants de tomates cerises en fin de saison, et je maintiens un équilibre précaire entre deux jardinières, me servant des vignes de tomates en avant-plan pour encadrer son visage souriant et ses bras forts. Pendant que Kristen arrose les épinards, j’intercepte la lumière ambiante de fin septembre qui embrasse ses épaules. Nous nous déplaçons à travers le jardin en créant des images ensemble, et Kristen me gâte avec des légumes frais. J’incorpore soigneusement différents éléments de ce grand jardin collectif dans chaque portrait environnemental.
Here are some pieces of our discussion together about gardens, mental health, and radical politics.
Voici quelques extraits de notre conversation portant sur les jardins, la santé mentale, et les idées politiques radicales.
Selena: Can you tell me a bit about how you feel when you're in a garden?
Kristen: On the social-political side I think that growing your own food is one of the most important ways you can take back power into your own hands, especially to counter the agro-industrial food system. You don't necessarily want to be supporting that if you can find alternatives. You can visit farmer's markets and support local farmers. It is harder in the city to have your own growing space, but if you can, find a sunny balcony. Or here we have our great collective garden which is a really good way to do that.
One of the important things about the collective garden here is that it's really community based and it's all about helping people have their own autonomy. So you know, I'm not just growing vegetables myself and giving it to people. It's a teaching process where I'll do workshops on how to plant a garden, we'll choose all the seeds together, we'll decide what we want to grow, I'll help people learn how to put things where they need to go like doing crop rotations. And then we'll do all the work together, so we'll start the seedlings together and we'll be able to plant together and do all the care together. It's really community based.
And then obviously just the health benefits of being outside and the nervous system regulation from being in the garden. I benefit from that a lot. Even if I'm stressed, I get to be in the garden at least twice a week which really calms me down. The plus side is also the great food that you get—a grocery store tomato versus a fresh garden tomato, there's no comparison. They're so much sweeter and there's a variety of tastes, and it's not all uniform, so that's really interesting. There are all of the different colours and textures that you get in the garden. Being able to have that creativity of growing what you want to grow, and then figuring out in season what you're going to make with it and trying out different recipes and things.
Selena: What are some changes you've noticed in the community garden because of the current pandemic?
Kristen: Being out in the garden is a great activity during the pandemic right now because you can't really do social activities inside. We can have a good amount of gardeners here while still having social distancing. Having something to do is a really important part for a lot of people. People can't do a lot of their normal activities but they can still come to the garden and so it's really important to have this space. We've had a lot of people that have found us because they want an activity to do at this time of the year.
For me the gardens have been a refuge in this time right now when it's harder to do things indoors. And you can get a little bit of exercise, I always bike over to the garden and spend some time here. It's also kind of nice to have this more private collective space in the big park so that you can come here and know that it's not going to be a bunch of strangers, it's people that you've worked with before. So that's really important too, the social aspect.
Selena: Can you share the impact gardens have on your mental health?
Kristen: Part of it is the political side, which is really linked to my mental health, of being able to take back power in a way that feels important. And have some control over what I'm growing and eating, and not just getting things from big box stores, and the understanding that I'm able to do that. Recognizing that it's a privilege because especially land and space in the city is really hard to come by. That really helps me regulate on that side. In terms of being calm even if things are very busy, I find my brain is often racing a lot or I feel anxious about different world events, and a garden is something where you can really create what you want and you're being empowered in that space, to have that space as your own, and as a community to build those connections and personal autonomy. So all these things build up who you are and the relationships with the people you're working with, which really helps with individual and collective mental health.
Selena: Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Kristen: One of the things I like to do is try to explore different varieties. I was showing you the Japanese eggplants we have and then we got some carrots which are kuroda long, which is also a Japanese variety. And the shiso, which has a curry-basil crossover taste. And so for me it's also a way to have access to foods that are more culturally relevant, which is often harder to find. I can go to Chinatown sometimes, but Japanese ingredients in Montreal are not as readily accessible. So also being able to grow some food that has different flavours or just knowing that it's a Japanese vegetable is really important for me. I try to also encourage my gardeners in choosing which varieties they want to grow, to not just think of the typical beefsteak tomato, but to think about where they're coming from and what they want to grow so they can teach each other as well about the foods that are good for them or from their cultures. And then everyone is learning about each other.
These environmental portraits of Kristen Perry were photographed at the community garden "La dent verte", a project of "Le club populaire des consommateurs de Pointe-Saint-Charles". This collective garden is located in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka. These photos were made by Montreal portrait photographer Selena Phillips-Boyle of Life by Selena Photography. Selena specializes in environmental portraiture and natural light photography. You can contact Selena Phillips-Boyle for a portrait session. This pandemic photo project about gardens and mental health is part of a five-part photo series. Here you can see Part One with Hashmita, Part Two with Leh, Part Four with Flavie, and Part Five with Élise of this portrait series.
Ces portraits environnementaux de Kristen Perry a été photographiée dans le jardin communautaire "La dent verte", un projet du "Club populaire des consommateurs de Pointe-Saint-Charles". Ce jardin communautaire est situé à Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) sur le territoire de la nation Kanien’kehà:ka. Ces photos ont été produites par la photographe montréalaise Selena Phillips-Boyle, de Life by Selena Photography. Selena se spécialise en portraits environnementaux et la photographie en lumière ambiante. Vous pouvez contacter Selena Phillips-Boyle pour une session photo. Ce projet photo en pandémie porte sur les jardins et la santé mentale, et est la première partie d’une série de cinq. Ici vous pouvez voir les portraits de la première partie avec Hashmita, la deuxième partie avec Leh, la quatrième partie avec Flavie et la cinquième partie avec Élise de cette série de portraits.