Grow Your Garden...a journal series

On the day I turned 20 years old, my youngest sister, Monica Delores Crichlow, was brutally murdered. This event sent me spiraling into a world of anxiety and depression and was the catalyst for my eventual journey towards wellness. On this journey, I began “playing in the dirt” and discovered that in addition to the joy I felt while engaging in something as simple as taking care of my plants or gardening, the plants I nurtured were also teaching me valuable lessons about life and healing. 

Whether we grow houseplants indoors or edible fruits and vegetables outdoors, the lessons that our plants teach us are powerful. I was able to share this message as part of the TEDx U Street Women's Conference in April. 2022. My talk, "Three Dirty Lessons About Life", reminds us that gardening is an accessible tool that can help us to understand life and to heal through experiences such as grief in a therapeutic way. 

My ancestors grew food to sustain their family in rural Virginia and in Barbados. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, our family's home was filled with houseplants and my father grew tomatoes on the patio; he was an urban farmer before urban farming was a thing. Through my lived experience and ancestral knowledge, I have developed and nurtured a strong connection, understanding and appreciation for the healing power of nature.

I have learned so much on my plant journey. After nurturing many houseplants indoors, I ventured outside and began growing fruits and vegetables on a small plot of land on the side of my home in Atlanta, GA. Dubbed “The Plant Genie”, I enjoy assisting others who are starting indoor and outdoor garden spaces. My work in this realm focuses on encouraging people to “play in the dirt” and to use gardening as a way to reconnect with nature, to find solace and to help them heal through the pain of grief and loss.

In addition to gardening, I am the curator of The Grown Ass Mama Tours, a master beader, and the author of Grow Your Garden, a series of guided journals that are inspired by the four seasons. As an advocate for wellness, an artist, a researcher, an educator and a data geek, I have worked in various capacities on projects that seek to improve health outcomes and mitigate health inequality for all.

I earned my Master of Arts degree in African Women’s Studies from Clark Atlanta University, with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University. I have also studied at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University and have been a Population Fellow through the University of Michigan.