Meet Your Soil and Soul Curator
I am Cheryl Williams, the Soil & Soul Curator of 40 Day Living. My path into urban farming wasn’t born out of a community initiative or a dream to become a “business owner.” It was born out of me — out of my heritage, my curiosity and my hunger to reconnect with the parts of myself that immigration stripped away when I was a child.
I am Jamaican. I grew up barefoot and free, climbing trees and feeling the earth under my skin, until I was transplanted into an environment that treated me like an outsider. For decades I lived feeling rootless, like a tree without soil. This urban farm is my way of reclaiming that ground — for me, my inner child and my family.
Through gardening, I’ve found healing. Through soil, I’ve found wisdom. And through stewardship, I’ve found my voice again. I am not here to perform or to people-please. I am here to live whole, to tend to what nourishes me and to offer my community the overflow — healthy plants, honest wellness and a living example of what it means to stay grounded in your heritage and your truth.
About My Urban Farm
40 Day Living is not a showcase farm. It is not built for tours or outside approval. It is an urban farm and plant nursery created first and foremost as a healing ground for me and my family. When I walk my land, when I harvest vegetables for my kitchen, when I tend the Monarch Waystation I planted with my own hands — I feel like I am restoring a birthright that was taken from me.
This urban farm exists at the crossroads of heritage and healing. It is where curiosity about plants turned into knowledge, where trial and error turned into skill, and where resilience turned into legacy. I’ve been laughed at, overlooked and underestimated — but I never gave up, because this land was always for me.
And here is the truth: in caring for my soil, I also care for my soul. That is the spirit of 40 Day Living — stewardship that nourishes both the earth and the person tending it. From that place of strength, I can extend something real to others.
The plants I grow and source, the knowledge I share, the pollinator habitats I protect — these are offerings from an urban farm rooted in love, not performance. It is proof that even when life uproots you, you can plant yourself again, tend your ground and thrive. Here, love is our harvest.
My Invitation to You
If you’ve made it this far, then welcome. Truly. If you need healthy plants to brighten your home and nourish your life or if you’re in search of healing, or simply like-minded — you belong here.
Mental health is deeply personal to me, because gardening played a major role in helping me find balance again. The soil became my therapist, the plants my teachers, and the garden my sanctuary. That’s why 40 Day Living chose healing as our niche. I believe everyone deserves the chance to discover what I found: peace, clarity and joy through the simple act of nurturing the earth.
Take time to explore my blog, Beyond the Bloom, where I share and dive into horticultural, wellness, mental health and legacy — the four pillars of 40 Day Living. Check out my book reviews, dive into resources, and shop herb and wellness products designed to add balance and quality to your daily life.
And remember: you are not just your work, and neither am I. At 40 Day Living, we believe in the balance between tending to your labor and nurturing your soul. That’s why our tagline is simple but true: Balanced Work. Nurturing Life.
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