Smelling the Goodness

It was about a month ago that I sprained my ankle--just as we were gearing up for summer growing, planting final grape vines and trees at our orchards, and opening our farm stand. I spent a little time wondering why that had to happen to me, right now.

But before long, it became clear that it's much easier to enjoy the beauty around me and all the goodness of our farm and nursery...when I'm moving at a very slow pace. I am able to step out of my usual go-mode and notice that each day seems greener than yesterday, each tree grows in leaves, height and personality each day.

Now, it would be easy for me to feel guilty after an entire month of doing...not very much...except that I am blessed not only with garden goodness, but also the goodness of friends!



Butterflies love Shelley--and so does ReTreeUS!

Thankfully, around the same time I sprained my ankle, Richard and I began working with his sister Shelley to create an internship position for her here on the farm. The fact that she has a passion for our mission, experience and a master's degree in the field, as well as an extra willingness to help (being family) has made her the perfect addition to our program this summer.



She weeds, waters, plants, helps with fundraising, planning, development, and grantwriting while Richard and I are either working at other jobs or I am resting my sore ankle. She is self-motivated, thorough, and always exceeds our expectations. We wouldn't have been able to make this summer happen without her!

Shelley's work not only helps us build our program and get the job done, but also paves the way for many more schools and their students, families, communities, and trees who will benefit from her dedication this summer. A thousand thank you's from this year's thousand trees and thousand students! And a thousand thank you's from me, for helping me stop and smell the roses...or the farm goodness.