I’m Late, I’m Late, I’m Late for a Very Important ……Slice!

Today’s slice comes to you late!  Usually, I wake up, get my high schooler’s out the door and then write my blog . Whether it is for the Slice of Life Story Challenge as it has been this month, or my usual daily blogging, I like to get it done early.  My blog is usually posted by  8 a.m.. Something about it makes me feel accomplished! But, today, I was out the door myself before 7:30 a.m. to attend a gardening conference!  I just arrived home about 45 minutes ago. During the hours in between, I presented two different 45 minute sessions at the conference, answered numerous questions on Monarchs, Milkweed, and Gardening with Children, wandered through the silent auction which offered a wide variety of tempting items, spoke with our guest, keynote speaker Melinda Myers of the PBS television show Great Lakes Gardener, reacquainted myself with a number of master gardeners, met a few new master gardeners, ate lunch, and listened to two hours of gardening inspiration.

I am ready to start digging!  Yes! I am! New plants await.

I am going to the garden store on the way home!

But, wait a minute….we still have snow!

Darn!

In the meantime, while I wait for the snow to melt, I will share a few highlights from the conference. 1) The Master Gardeners are a wonderful group of volunteers. Stories were shared, questions were answered, and everyone stayed polite, happy, and relaxed! The rooms were filled with camaraderie and respect.  It renewed my faith in humankind! 2) I bid on a “bee basket” of silent auction items from one of the vendors – a beekeeper, naturally!  I was not the first to bid on the basket and not the last. So sadly, I did not win the goodies. Upon realizing I would not was not willing to up my bid, I went to the vendor himself and bought a pint of his honey and a lotion bar made of honey and wax.  If you’ve been reading along with my blog, you know I’ve been into honey lately! So, I added to my collection – this was not wildflower honey, but basswood honey – only one type of flower flavored this sweet syrupy jar of yumminess……and his prices? They were much more reasonable than honey from the grocery store! A bonus – affordability!

3) I was inspired by our youth. Two female students from a nearby high school presented on their food dehydrator machine, with which their “Earth Club” is using school generated kitchen waste to make into garden fertilizer! They have zero food waste at their high school! Truly, a case of “you go girl(s).” Sadly, I did not get to hear them talk because I presented at the same time!  But, they are on to something, and it is a very inspiring something to say the least!  4) My presentations both went well.  Whew! About 60 people attended my Monarchs, Milkweed, and the Monarch Highway presentation and 25 people attended my presentation on Gardening with Kids. My unexpected glitch discovering Thursday night that one of my power points for today was not saved, did not end up deterring my presentation in the least. In fact, I think my second version was better – even if it did mean giving up most of my day yesterday to complete a second slide show.  Given the reaction of my audience, it was worth it!  5) I felt like I might have inspired others to take action! My plea to help the monarch population involved three steps.

1. Be Informed
2. Plant Milkweed
3. Share What You Know

Of course, there were many more details shared about how to perform those steps. But, you get the idea! Over 50 milkweed seed packets were taken from my table of handouts! I hope they all get planted!

And finally, as I listened to Melinda Myers end her presentations, I realized we had the same take home message: Let’s inspire the next generation of gardeners. Whether it be your friends, neighbors, family, or school children, let us help them all to be inspired to love our earth. It is critical for each of us and for our future.