||| FROM LAURA WALKER for ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB |||

Well spring has officially sprung. Calm yourselves by reading Suzette’s “Oops” article this month and know that you’re not alone in feeling like you are behind in your gardening tasks.

Over this last week, I’ve planted up and are caring for over one thousand seedlings in my greenhouse. I am trying to focus on things that make me happy.

But spending time in a third world country, gave me a renewed sense of gratitude for this beautiful place we call home. We have clean water, fresh air, healthy soil and clean surroundings. Maintaining that oasis takes hard work. Visitors from many destinations may not share our environmental values. By taking care of our islands and keeping them free of trash, we demonstrate our commitment and expectations of our environment. And we teach others that this is the way it should be. If you haven’t already signed up for the Great Island Clean Up this year, please consider joining us and celebrating the fact that we live here.Let’s celebrate our beautiful planet and commit to protecting it for future generations! Happy Earth Day!

I love that a little green frog is warming his belly on my heat mat. The little creature is in bliss, oblivious to the wild world we are living in. And as I admire the growth in my garden, with both plants that I want and those I’d rather not be growing, I remind myself of this principle:

Gardening is not a battle. It’s a relationship. 

Each spring, my garden and I, we have this conversation, and you know, somehow it all just seems to work out. My garden understands that I have competing priorities. It knows that I’m trying my best to take care of it and it shows me it’s appreciation in so many ways. And life happens. Three weeks in March out of country put me quite behind in my seed starting.

 

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