I come from Texas cotton farmers and World War 2 refugees. They farmed to survive famine. They farmed as slave laborers. My maternal family’s aristocracy was dwindled down selling ducks out of their backyards. My grandfather hiked the Alps to escape Nazis and sailed oceans to three continents until they arrived in America. And then my paternal Texas cotton farmers left the cotton fields to city conveniences like plumbing and running water. But farming followed both families and both sets of grandparents took farming to their backyards. My parents grew up with urban orchards, vegetable gardens, and regularly raised rabbits and ducks which they butchered themselves. My parents utilized this knowledge and skills and with a mutual love for plants they opened a flower business together in the late 80’s called The Flower Garden. It was a small nursery with florist services and was located off Basse near San Pedro.
I remember spending hours sitting on the counter making dolls out of floral wire while my mom made floral arrangements. I remember wandering Travis Wholesale, looking for broken flowers in the bottom of buckets which the salesclerk let me have for free. I remember laughing while tumbling around the back of the delivery van on delivery runs. Gardening was very much familial. It was a daily chore now hammered into me.
Volunteering with the Master Naturalists is a way for me to honor my family; the knowledge that they acquired to survive created opportunity and a better life for future generations. Gardening is something I can do. I have heard many people complain about gardening. I do feel that volunteering in gardens serves my purpose. But not in a drone kind of way. I feel most like myself. It’s hard to explain. Maybe gardening is scratching some epigenetic itch.
There is a feeling of reward after each volunteer shift; a tangible sense of accomplishment. There is also the meditativeness for an absurdly endless task like weeding or mulching. You weed knowing that you will need to weed that exact same spot again soon enough, much like the Myth of Sisyphus. Weeding is a mental health activity- it provides time to zone out- or come to a resolve on a bothering thought. Then there sweating; heavy metals and negative energy detoxifies from the body and soul. Now at this point I am either preaching to the choir or you are repelled. But- after a big garden workday like a mulching workday one can feel a euphoria afterwards from the endorphins released. I joke with the other volunteers that we are addicted to gardening- maybe we are feeling runner’s high.
Right now, I funnel my garden energy and addiction into managing the Butterfly Learning Center at Phil Hardberger Park. Back in June of 2021 Gary Poole, former AAMN President, approached me to take on the AAMN Project. The pandemic had shuddered all volunteering so the garden had not been regularly maintained in over a year and the Butterfly Learning Center’s founder and prior manager Drake White moved on to full-time involvement in her Nectar Bar business. I met with Gary to discuss the project and accepted the position sight unseen (which in hindsight was for the best). With the support of AAMN leadership and the assistance of an unshakable group of dedicated volunteers, my secret garden is tamed. I am doing my best to not keep it a secret.
Do you want to walk through Eden? The address to heaven on Earth is 1021 Voelcker Ln, San Antonio, TX 78248. We typically work Wednesday mornings and have educational programs on the third Saturday of each month.
