Getting started…

Well, I sure went about all this bass-ackwards, now didn’t I? 🙂 Should have occurred to me to have a post and some layout before linking my blog off to everyone. So, you all get to watch me develop this as I go! I’ll kick it all off with my story, to get that out of the way.

I started this life in the gardening world just a few years ago, really. I mean, there’s always been an interest, but never on the make-a-living-at-it kinda level. I’d spent years working in the natural foods industry (WFM and some independents), then in the fabric industry for several more years (both retail buying, and working in sewing workrooms.) A few years ago I took one of those “what to be when you grow up” kinda classes, and the whole focus of the class was to learn to listen to your likes and dislikes. The purpose of the class was to focus on knowing what you don’t want to do, and to be true to those feelings. Enter the gardening world.

I’ve been going through the gamut at City College of San Francisco in the Environmental Horticulture department. I’ve taken, literally, just about every class they have to offer! It’s been phenomenal, completing certifications in Landscape Design, Landscape Maintenance, Greenhouse and Nursery Center Operations and Cut Flower Production. One class left to finish off the cert for Landscape Construction. I am SO happy with where my life has been going since I took the reigns and decided to steer.

My plant learning has, of course, led to other courses of study and interest. Another major player in my own focus is ecology and environmental considerations. That’s not to say I won’t plant anything that’s not endemic, by any means. I do try to avoid bad decisions ecologically in plant choices, but am open to anything if it’s appropriate and the climate is right to sustain it. There are so many exciting plants out there! (But responsibility in planting is definitely key.)

I work in an exciting and dynamic garden center in San Francisco, and volunteer my time (as regularly as my work schedule will allow) working on the Gardens of Alcatraz. In Yoga, whenever we’re asked to go in our mind’s eye to a peaceful place that has special meaning to us, Alcatraz is my Happy Place – facing west out the Golden Gate from the Prisoner’s Garden. I’m sure I’ll be giving plenty of Alcatraz Gardens stories in the future… My nursery work has given me a phenomenal plant palette to work with, and volunteer and paid gardening work lets me see these things in action. I’m lucky to have a big yard here in the City, too. It’s great to be able to experiment and see what plants will survive me. You’ll be getting plenty of these stories, as well. 🙂

I look forward to sharing with you the world of plants through my eyes.

Thanks for coming on the ride!

Zann

San Francisco as seen from Alcatraz at dawn