Gardening Hope
Welcome to my blog. For my first entry, I thought it appropriate to share what brought me to this place of Richwine’s Nature’s Gifts.
In 2021, I closed the chapter on my career as a public high school horticulture teacher. Funny thing- I was never going to be a teacher, let alone retire as one. And now, after 26 classroom years, I’ve witnessed plants transform students of all ages. And now, plants are still continuing to transform…but it is me this time.
In high school there was never an option-I didn’t even know we had horticulture classes. You see, it was the 80’s and in some schools, there was a dangerous misconception that college bound students were not well suited for agriculture curricula. So consequently, when I went to VA Tech, while other students were picking up where they left off in high school, it was a brand new start for me! Landscape Design & Contracting, Plant Propagation, Vegetable Production, Small Fruit Production, Woody Plant Materials, Herbaceous Plants, Dendrology, and all sorts of biology and chemistry courses. The work was so very challenging, but my world was now alive!
If you’ve never worked with plants, you don’t know what you’re missing! To have seeds in your hands and know you can feed your students for mere pennies is humbling. To see the joy of left-over homecoming or prom flowers in the hands of students who could not afford to attend- is humbling. To offer community plant giveaways, and see high school students who have never tasted raw cucumbers, broccoli or peas, love their first bites of self grown- humbling. To see them scramble to take home bags of apples and squash after a glean-humbling. To be able to console staff after the loss of a student with flowers from the schools courtyard where he found solace…humbling. To teach non-English speaking students to arrange flowers and take them home to their host families, and grow ”Phenomenal” lavender in 2020 for your school staff after the most odd Covid-year, because that’s the kind of staff they’ve been…humbling.
So now I venture into the realm of floral design as a retirement vocation, and my world is once again alive! The opportunity for service, growth, and changing the human condition are phenomenal! I welcome the learning, the struggles, the art, the craft, and relationships with the soil, individuals, and communities. I am again inspired by my green world. Thanks for following. Maybe you will be inspired too!
