Ideas Are the New Oil, But I’m Planting Trees Instead
Why I’ve been in the garden instead of online—and why it still counts
Lately, I’ve been choosing my garden over my Substack.
Not because I don’t love writing. I do. But I’ve become a little obsessed with something tangible, alive, and dirt-under-your-nails real.
It’s a project I’ve dreamed up for my backyard called a “food forest” (I’ll explain what that actually means later). And there’s something about this project that’s taken over—in the best way.
Even when I’m low energy or sore or sunburned, I find myself outside, moving from one task to the next. Weeding. Watering. Planting. Hauling wood chips. Time disappears—and for a while, I don’t think about metrics or reach or optimization.
I feel guilty, like I’m abandoning “the real work.”
But I’m starting to realize: maybe this is the real work.
What Am I Really Escaping?
When I say I “lost myself” in the garden, I have to catch myself. Because what am I actually losing myself from?
Being in the garden isn’t an escape from the world because it involves active participation in the world—the natural world.
Sitting at a computer for hours, bouncing between windows, scrolling and posting and editing—that feels like escape.
That’s when I lose track of what actually matters.
And yet, that’s the kind of work our culture rewards.
The Pressure to Be Online
We’re told the future is digital:
“Ideas are the new oil.”
“Audience is leverage.”
“Content is currency.”
And I get it. I want to reach people. I want to grow a platform that matters.
But I don’t want to spend my whole summer watching the “real world” through a screen while my backyard comes alive (literally).
Because what I’m building offline? That’s where I feel most alive right now.
Why I’m Building a Food Forest
This isn’t just a regular garden. I’m creating a food forest.
That means:
It mimicks natural ecosystems
I’m planting trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, and roots that work together
It’s filled with perennials that grow year after year
It’s layered: fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, vines, roots, and ground cover
It’s regenerative and self-sustaining over time
This kind of garden becomes more productive as time goes on—not more work. It’s slower, yes, but it’s built to last.
And that’s why it feels so real. Because it’s about growing food.
And food becomes the cells in your body. The energy that fuels your brain. The material your health is made of.
So this isn’t just a side project. It’s a way of living what I teach. It’s health, connection, sustainability—in action.
Practicing What I Preach
I spend a lot of time writing about mental health, ancestral living, and metabolic healing.
But it’s easy to lose those things when your life becomes another tab on your browser.
This food forest is a tangible way for me to embody the things I care about. And no, it doesn’t “scale” the way an Instagram post might.
But it feeds me—in every sense of the word.
🪴 Garden Update
Here’s what’s happened/happening in the food forest this week:
I planted two elderberries, two blackberries, and a jostaberry (a gooseberry-blackcurrant hybrid)
I’m laying river rock borders and shaping gravel paths
I’m spreading wood chips…all over!
I’ll share mre photos once it starts to look like more than a huge pile of dirt and rocks :)
A Note To Other Writers
If you’re also building something online—a newsletter, a platform, an audience—you might know this feeling:
That tug between being productive and being present.
Between doing what gets noticed… and doing what actually nourishes you. I’d love to hear how you’re navigating that.
Leave a comment or hit reply and tell me:
What are you creating offline right now that no one sees?
Let’s start a conversation about the kind of work that counts—even when the algorithm doesn’t.
To health and wellness writers I look up to, have you ever felt this?
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As always, thanks for reading.
With love and health,
Sophie
Sophie, I loved reading this!! Not only am I so excited that you are building this beautiful food forest, but that you are doing exactly what lines up with what you are passionate about. For me, I talk a lot about balance and not having rigid structures when it comes to health & wellness. While I would love to say I am able to do that all the time, I don’t. Sometimes I struggle with trying to do everything perfectly. Sometimes I push myself to go hard in the gym when I maybe could use a bit more rest. I’m glad to hear you are learning and growing, that’s my goal every day too. If we continue to focus on what we know to be good and true, over time, that will take over our lives like wildflowers in a field.
P.S. I’m so excited to see photos of all of this. I’ve been sharing the growth of my garden lately and it is so much fun to watch something bloom :)
This is the first time I've heard of a "food forest" and I also want one! My mom and I are trying to make a "garden" of sorts with raised cedar beds and veggies. We also have a tea plant right outside our door hoping to grow our own tea.
I agree with your idea of producing offline. I often find myself living through my screen - if not writing myself, reading other work, replying to emails...and it's gotten to be too much. So offline, I make time to water the plants, get outside and ride my bike, or organize my space. It's tough (my attention span all too easily gets hooked on the internet) but it's been worth it.
Thanks for writing this!