EDITORletter

Your editor at Putnam Hill Nursery in Forest Hill, MD. Photo taken by Zoe Zindash.

It Takes a Village

I tried to get away for a week to the beach this summer, and preparing for it taught me how many roles I play and that a support network is really vital in this modern world. A neighbor and I trade cat-sitting duties, so that was the easiest thing to check off my list, once I confirmed my travel dates and hers didn’t conflict. Next on my list was watering our community garden plot. Luckily, a garden plot neighbor and I easily traded watering coverage for each other’s summer travels. Then there was watering all the containers and plants in my home garden. This is a task that can take a couple of hours every other day in the height of summer and is not something you can easily ask someone to do as a favor, so I turned to the Silver Spring Timebank. I posted a request for anyone wanting to do watering in exchange for time hours that I’d “banked” in my account. Two timebank members responded and after having them visit to show them the water sources and thirstiest of pots, I felt much more at ease about leaving for a few days without coming back to a dead garden. That added up to four people just to maintain the most basic care of the furbabies and plants. No wonder I’m so tired!

Happy gardening, Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-588-6894 kathyjentz@gmail.com www.washingtongardener.com Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Proofreader

Charlotte Benedetto Charlotte Crook Melena DiNenna Melinda Thompson Interns

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