About Me
For thirty years, I’ve been growing herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables, facing the challenges of deer, chickens, hail, and early snows with what I hope is a sense of humor and dogged optimism. I wrote a column on herb gardening (The Herb Lady) in the Independent Record and my fabulous foxtail lilies were featured in Zone 4 magazine. The garden brings happiness, new friends, and challenges (er, opportunities).
I’ve been in the environmental consulting business for over 35 years and happily married for about that long, so I know a thing or two about grit.
I was raised in the desert where it was a big deal if the dog’s water dish froze and here I am in a state where it can snow any month of the year and where the temperature still drops to -20 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. A place where ice-fishing is a thing that people do intentionally, even at night.
My willingness to try new things is informed by my father’s outlook on life, which was to save money at any opportunity. It boiled down to “Try it yourself first before you even THINK of calling a professional.”
Everybody fails at one thing or another. Failure is not to be feared, but to be treated with eagerness as an opportunity for improvement. The quest for perfection is pointless and stops people from doing things they might really enjoy for fear that the end result won’t measure up. Wipe perfection from your mind. No matter how well you do at something, there will always be someone who will point out the flaws. It’s their problem, not yours.
We’ve all got varying degrees of nitpickery lurking inside us. I’ve been that soul-killing person more times than I’d like to admit and I’ve worked with those people (although infrequently). It’s unnecessarily draining. I’ve tried to reform and hope the same for others. Be the change you want to see….
Here’s what I know:
Do your best and you can sleep soundly and hold your head high.
Figure out what worked and what didn’t. You’ll use that knowledge at some point, maybe years later, and you’ll be glad you took a risk.
Be kind. The older I get the more I realize that everyone is dealing with something whether you know it or not. Don’t be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
I hope this website is useful and maybe fun. Thanks for visiting and don’t be a stranger.
Karen
Some of my gardening challenges...
