If you feed a pregnant woman more hamburgers, will she have more babies?

I had been debating for over a week whether to get into the parallels between soil science and vaginal health because mostly a bunch of dudes are reading this, but thankfully Kacey Donner, our co-instructor and composting queen over the EAT! Center, kicked the door open with that zinger. She was talking about the optimal amount of scraps to feed worms — something like a half a pound per pound of worms. Throwing more scraps in isn’t going to “worm-maxx” the situation. The scraps will just sit in there half-eaten, decomposing, and smelling, almost certainly attracting gnats, which aren’t necessarily a bad thing because they’re a signal. An overgrowth of something indicates a lack of something else, a healthy mitigating force. Nature ain’t subtle, she lets you know. Women know this.

The other night Kacey asked some of us to share the most memorable part of her lecture on soil biology. For me it was how soil aggregation is akin to the development of a healthy uterine lining, the clumpy texture of soil itself being just as important to fertility as all of the chemical processes taking place within molecules and protein chains. How the chemical processes tell molecules how to arrange themselves into a optimal physical environment and structure. How soil — and the female reproductive system — are perhaps the most consummate and relatable examples of physical, chemical, and biological sciences working in utmost harmony. Obviously I’m not the first person to notice these similarities. Mother earth and all that has been uttered for millennia, but it’s cool how the parallels hold rather than unravel the more you dive into details.

As a woman, learning about soil science feels like the greatest affirmation of the genetic superiority of women, and the most iron-clad scientific basis upon which to say fuck you to the patriarchy. Especially since social science and any assessment of the lived experiences of women in a broken society is increasingly rejected as science altogether. But here, the proof is in the dirt.

We talked about synthetic fertilizers for a bit, specifically Miracle Gro and how applying it is too much of one thing. The excess inundates other helpful and healthful microorganisms. Of course this reminded me of the antibiotic versus vaginal suppository conundrum all women face during infections. The suppository is messy and often ineffective. Sometimes yeast isn’t even the thing you have. We know more about space than a woman’s parts. Other times, you take one out of three suppositories and kablammo all clear. But when shoving an ovule up your mystery chute doesn’t work, you take an antibiotic that, sure, solves the problem (maybe), but it also kills everything good off too and whammo, another infection. Because diversity is strength. It’s what fortifies our well-being, our best creation.

We often dress up soil when all it needs is to be left alone. We strip it, then we amend it. We misinterpret and judge its smells. We think it needs us when it made us.

I’m a little off schedule with the newsletter and I feel terrible for breaking the social contract twice now. Twice, I missed a week, ironically when I’m less busy because I’m trying to enjoy my summer and rest.

Not that this isn’t enjoyable! It’s a joy to write. But I’ve also felt like a zombie after a weirdly emotionally taxing school year and a professional transition that is going well, but came with a lot of mental weight. Change isn’t light.

I have a lot of creative/social change projects I’m boiling in my belly right now that I’ll announce later. It’s been a gift to have more time to wander and forage in my mind palace, cook and eat, watch reruns of Mannix, garden, hang out with my family, and just be still. Thanks for hanging around.