I have vivid childhood memories of my parents and grandparents planting, tending, and harvesting flower and vegetable gardens.
Highlights of my childhood summers included:
*The daily pick of nasturtiums and pansies with Grandma Berta for the bud vases on the kitchen windowsill
*Mom’s rose bush out front of the Adams Street apartment
*Searching for plump, red strawberries from the patch at Nanny & Bapa’s. And, Bapa’s weekly car rides to check on many farm crops all around The Palouse
*Dad’s veggie garden and flower beds in Oakes and Gail’s at the Lake home
*Diana’s Skagit Valley tulips and Mike’s Pac NW shade garden expertise. And, all of the magic at 406 East D street on the bank, in the raised beds, and the cherry tree above the deck
*Time spent at Moscow Florist watching the Turks arrange and deliver beautiful arrangements
*My imaginary play included playing, “greenhouse” all dressed up in my grandmother’s smock, scarf, and slip on heels
In this season of my life, I’m realizing the lasting lessons and values that my whole family instilled in me.
Each elder planted a seed within me and I learned that with each new season, start anew, cultivate that which is good. Nurture the growth. Then, celebrate and share the beauty and the harvest.
I have spent the last three decades gardening with passion. I have cultivated beds and containers at rental properties, school gardens, and our first home in Seattle. And now, our home on Middle Road. I’m grateful for the blank slate, plenty of acreage and full sun to design, build, and tend to perennials, annuals, and vegetables. And, each year I learn something new and expand in some way. Doing this work fills me with joy and purpose. I get a thrill from sharing the fruits of my harvest. And that brings me to this stage, where I have scaled back on vegetables and increased cut flower crops.
Middle Meadow is a special place. The seed that I’m planting now is to bring more family, friends, and neighbors together through flowers to be connected to what really matters: our interdependent relationships in our community.
