Upcoming…

I promised i’d give a mention to this weekend’s Master Gardener Tour. Several of the garden’s have Martinez Addresses, and our local Master Gardeners have been good (though surprising!) friend of the Martinez Beavers. For 15 dollars you get the full benefit of their training and expertise, and some great ideas for your own backyard.

President Harriet Burt writes:

We are hoping that it is not our last as the County seed money funding (of about $3k) may be pulled which will stop $3m of UC Cooperative Extension money which funds us, 4-H, the County Ag advisors for the remaining real farmers, nutrition programs all sorts of good things for all residents in the County. We are fighting hard to keep it. Tickets cost $15 and can be obtained from me! (372-8038 or 209-0800 or email) and I will deliver! Six gardens including two neat ones in Martinez: The downtown one is on the top of Brown Street in one of the old Shell cottages right next to the refinery. Troy McGregor is an Australian who bought the place which is quite charming albeit small and has put in a wonderful garden of natives, mediterranean and Australian plants…low on water needs but high on appeal. The fun thing is that Marilyn Thelen’s step-grandfather worked for Shell and maintained the gardens on that block of residences built originally for Shell employees.

The one in Virginia Hills is a neat lawn-free walking garden….the 60s low maintenance foundation plants like camellias and nandina and juniper and the lawn have made way for drought tolerant and wonderfully laid out plants…You’ll enjoy all the gardens including two in Pleasant Hill and two in the Tice Valley part of Walnut Creek. One of those is truly amazing if you like vegetable gardening, it’s a must see! Actually it is anyway as the ornamental part is wonderful also. Our theme this year is water conservation so we are emphasizing native, Mediterranean and Australian plants. All the gardens have great features and all are emphasizing low water usage in some way including transitioning from a more traditional plant palette to one that acknowledges the growing scarcity of water.

We’re having a big plant sale at the other one — mostly drought tolerant plants such as salvias, succulents etc. And, fall is the best time to plant natives and Mediterranean plants so they get watered in well (or hopefully well if El Nino comes through).

So yesterday I was quietly enjoying the response I got from Chris Pincetich about beavers and salmon and wondering how we can best follow up together, when I got an email from previously unknown DW about the web site. Who designed it and could he talk to him and get some questions answered for the one he’s working on? I described our weird and wonderful history with the site founder, Bruce (who moved on) and the site designer (Mike) who moved farther on, and said that we were now working with a very kind and brilliant woman (Jean) who knew nothing about WP but was able sometimes to control the site through a whip, a chair, and html. Was he perhaps looking for unpaid work with acres of commitment and very little reward? Alas, no. He was not a WP expert either, sadly, but he suggested I put an ad on CL and he would screen them for me.

It took longer than it should have for me to realize that CL meant “Craig’s List”. DW explained how to do it and I dutifully followed the directions and wrote what seemed like an inviting plea, mentioning that it was unpaid but good for visibility and the environment. I thought nothing would come of it, like putting a note adrift in a bottle, and went back about my business.

Within the hour I had ten responses. Two from friendly beaver supporters and WP experts that couldn’t wait to help. In the second hour I got ten more, and then a note that my listing had been flagged for removal. (Maybe because it had the word “beaver” in it?) Honestly, I ask you, am I the scariest thing on Craig’s list?. Even though the ad clearly said “UNPAID WORK” I got many enthusiastic responses. It makes you wonder just how bad this economy is…

Our very first respondent used to live near beavers in New York, and would take the boat out to have his lunch by the lodge. He immediately noticed the theme and the changes we had made to the website, and was full of suggestions about how to proceed. He would handle the color issues for us, and back us up with a new upgraded site if we chose. He couldn’t have offered better or sounder advice, and the whole experience was so affirming it made me kind of seasick.

Allow me to explain. As a beaver advocate, I am braced all the time for difficult responses; for people that shout “eat them” as they drive by the bridge, or the UC professor who wrote me back in my very first attempts to explain that they weren’t endangered and should be shot, or even Janet Kennedy saying I need to appreciate more how the city has helped them. I’m used to bad beaver news. It’s familiar. I’m always standing like the door’s going to open into a gush of strong wind throwing me back and I had better be prepared to keep slogging forward anyway.

I am TOTALLY unprepared when the door opens onto a lovely grassy garden where hummingbirds sip hibiscus nectar and people give me good things that I want very much without my doing anything besides ask. I cannot tell you how anxious it makes me. It is okay if I feel I have earned it, but if it was just given freely and I’ve done no work whatsoever, it freaks me out. Still the “unbearable lightness” of getting exactly what you want means you have to be strong enough to ask for it, and gracious enough to accept it, so I am trying my best on that second front.

Which is all to say WOW and welcome aboard to RS who I will properly introduce as soon as I have permission, and thanks DW for your suggestion! We look forward to great things!