The Joy of Mowing

What if mowing wasn't a chore?

This week in Stable Roots, Kim Carter reflects on why climbing onto a tractor has become one of the most restorative parts of life at Lavender Hill. What begins as a story about bush hogging pastures unfolds into a meditation on attention, empowerment, Elizabeth Gilbert's All the Way to the River, the surprising history of lawns, the secret language of roadside ditches, and why Johnson grass might have more to teach us than we'd like to admit.

Sometimes the most ordinary work invites us into the deepest conversations—with ourselves, with the land, and with the seasons quietly unfolding around us.

Whether you spend your days on a tractor, in a garden, at a workbench, or behind a desk, this episode is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and discover the unexpected joy hidden in work you can actually finish.

In this episode:

Why buying a tractor changed more than the way I mowed

Measuring an afternoon in Elizabeth Gilbert instead of hours

Bush hogging versus suburban lawns

The hidden history of the American lawn

Reading the stories written in ditches

What Johnson grass can teach us about land—and ourselves

Why tangible work quiets a busy mind