GrowJourney Member Story: Kirsten Drickey from Bellingham, WA
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The GrowJourney Member Stories Series features real GrowJourney members and their experiences in their organic gardens. If you’re a GrowJourney member, and you want to share your GrowJourney story, please get in touch!
This GrowJourney story features Kirsten Drickey. All photos are from her garden.
- Years gardening: 2 years in a concerted fashion, although most of my life in off-and-on spurts.
- Location: Bellingham, WA
- Instagram: @daily_prairie
- Blog: www.abies.org
Why did you originally start gardening?
Although I grew up with parents who grew and preserved much of the food we ate throughout the winter, I started the most recent phase of my gardening career because I became more and more fascinated with foraging and identifying native plants after moving to Washington State. Eventually observing plants out on hikes wasn’t enough, and I wanted a yard full of non-turf-grass plants. Then my lawn mower broke, and I was all in.
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What’s the most rewarding thing you’ve experienced in/from your organic garden?
Gardening is basically a way to indulge my obsessions: spending time outside, observing nature, cooking with ingredients from our yard, watching birds, insects, and other wildlife. We live on a busy street, and I love that our garden has become a mini-refuge for all kinds of life, including humans.
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Biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge is when my hopes (tomatoes! eggplant!) don’t align with the climatological reality of the area I live in (maritime climate just south of the Canadian border). Also, I’m terrible at remembering what I’ve planted and where.
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What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned from organic gardening that you want other people to know?
If you build it, they will come, “they” being birds and beneficial insects. It’s fascinating to see how quickly ecological connections form, even in an urban environment.
What do you like best about GrowJourney so far?
GrowJourney offers a level of detail in their seed information that really helps educate gardeners for the long haul. I’ve caught myself looking for that same detail from other seed companies and missing it, although I’ve also grown more confident in my ability to start seeds. I also enjoy the variety; getting my seeds each month is a treat I look forward to.
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Anything else you’d like to share about what you’ve learned/experienced? Or how organic gardening has helped shape your perspective?
Gardening is something that’s truly for everyone; whether it’s a few containers in your apartment or an expansive farm, we all benefit from time spent with seeds and plants and soil. And the more we’re connected to natural processes, the better we’re able understand and ultimately care for the people that feed us and the planet that sustains us.
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We hope you enjoyed Kirsten’s member story! Make sure to follow her Instagram for stunningly beautiful nature, garden, and beekeeping photos: @daily_prairie. Also, be sure to check out her blog www.abies.org, which is packed full of helpful information about gardening, foraging, beekeeping, and outdoor adventuring.
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