Hello everyone! This week the interview comes from a gardener who tried her hand at gardening at this capacity for the very first time.
Name: Niki Samek
City of residence: Renton
What do you do for a living?
Nanny
How long have you been gardening?
1 whole season!
How did you become interested in Sustainable Renton Community Farm?
I’ve been wanting to try gardening for a long time but haven’t had the space for it. It was a big YES! moment when Lara asked if I was interested.
What do you like most about the SRCF?
I love the peaceful feeling that comes over me when surrounded by such lush and beautiful new life and growth.
What kinds of things are you growing in your garden?
This season we grew giant sunflowers, 3 kinds of bush beans, spinach, broccoli, radishes, potatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, beets, amaranth, marigolds, sugar pumpkins, cucumbers, rosemary, calendula and carrots.
What is your favorite thing to grow and why?
hmmm…. the pumpkins were CRAZY fun to watch and try to manage as they tried to take over our entire plot. Food wise, I loved having the ability to wander out and pick some dinner off of our broccoli and spinach plants.
Do you employ a particular gardening philosophy? If so, what it is it and why?
Sew seeds, and water, weed, love on obsessively, until I get busy and then ignore guiltily. Occasionally throw some rabbit poop around to feed. It has been such a wonderful experience to share in everyone’s enthusiasm and wonder at how miraculously things grow. The seed pod is genuinely one of nature’s many abundant miracles that provide us with everything we need to live wholesome, healthy lives. And to think, it didn’t come from a drive-thru window! Who knew? A lot of people know that, but in a busy world that keeps us from ourselves it is easy to forget that the earth provides us with everything we need.
Sustainable Renton Community Farm is a facilitator of remembering what a wonderful gift the earth is.
Interview conducted by Lara Randolph, Sustainable Renton Community Farm Manager.
We have a waiting list for gardening next season-if you are interested, please contact:
Lara Randolph/Farm Manager at larar35@comcast.net or 425-228-0345
Or Sustainable Renton at sustainablerenton@gmail.com