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Last summer, I sat down with Nicole, our marketing director and the producer of this podcast, to work through a front yard project that had been stalling for years. She had a vision. She had a graphic design degree and a huge artistic background. And she was completely stuck. Having an eye for design and knowing how to apply it in your own garden are two completely different things. Nicole knew what she wanted the space to feel like, but every time she started making decisions, she'd hit a logistical wall and shut the whole thing down. So we decided to record the whole process, start to finish. This is Part 1. In this episode, I cover: Why garden projects stall before they start, and what the pattern of indecision is usually telling you How to diagnose a flow problem in your outdoor space, because when the shortest paths are all in the wrong places, no amount of planting fixes it The single decision that was blocking everything else in Nicole's courtyard, and why you can't move forward until that one thing is resolved Why moving raised beds or existing garden elements can feel like a loss, even when you know the change is the right call How to think about a courtyard space that needs to work for grilling, kids, dogs, and guests without turning into a renovation you never finish Connect With Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Watch on YouTube If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your gardening friends. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

One year ago this week, I sat down to record the first episode of this podcast. This episode has been sitting in the vault for exactly one year. It was the first one I ever recorded, back when we had a plan and an idea and genuinely no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We didn't even have a real mic yet. So here we are, one year later, right back in that same moment. And everything I said still holds. If you've ever walked outside in April and felt your stomach drop a little at everything staring back at you, this one's for you. Spring has a way of making us feel like we're already behind, like we woke up late and now we have to make up for it. But gardens don't actually work that way, and this episode is my case for slowing down, picking a corner, and letting the rest wait. In this episode, I cover: Why spring overwhelm is so common, and why the "this is the year I transform everything" mindset sets you up for more stress than satisfaction The case for working in sections, starting with your entry points and the spaces where you actually live, rather than trying to tackle it all at once Why weeding a little every day is one of the highest-return things you can do this spring, and how it can actually feel good once you get out of your own head about it Practical spring tasks to focus on now, including mulching areas you won't get to, lawn care in the Pacific Northwest, and soil pH basics for grass and moss How designing over time leads to better choices, less rework, and a lot less overwhelm Resources If you need more help knowing where to start in your spring garden, download our free Spring Gardening Guide. Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who'd love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

After years of crossing paths at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and never quite having enough time, we finally got to sit down for a real conversation with John (from Vashon), and I'm so glad we did. John Coghlan is a landscape designer and gardener based on Vashon Island, where he runs HomeGrown Organics, and this one is good. We get into his love of Vashon, what shaped his plant palette, and the winding road that led him to where he is today. In this episode, we discuss: How the landscapes John has lived in, from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California to the highlands of Guatemala, show up directly in his plant palette, and why you can see that progression clearly when you look back at his show gardens over the years How sedges caught John's attention early in his landscaping career through Seattle's RainWise program, digging out lawns and redirecting water back to where it wanted to be, and how that early love culminated in his 2026 Northwest Flower and Garden Show garden, uplifting sedges into something truly special John's deep love of Vashon after moving there with his family 13 years ago, the island's incredible horticultural history and roots, from the Beall Greenhouses, once one of the most well-respected orchid growers in the world that sheltered Kew Gardens specimens during World War II, to Mukai Farm and Garden, to the magic of the Whispering Firs Bog, one of only three intact peat bogs left in the lower Puget Sound The gift John hopes to give every client through their garden, getting them outside and actually in their space, wandering around with no agenda, noticing things, and knowing he's done his job when someone texts him a photo of the morning light hitting their plants from their coffee cup How we tend to overlook the beauty right in our own backyard and find it instead in the places we travel, from Claire growing up annoyed by manzanita everywhere to people in Guatemala pulling orchids out of trees like weeds, to John coming home from an International Oaks Society trip with a whole new appreciation for the plants that are abundant in his own backyard Resources:  John Coghlan HomeGrown Organics HomeGrown Organics on Instagram HomeGrown Organics on Facebook Places mention: Mukai Farm and Garden Beall Greenhouses Whispering Firs Bog Maury Island Marine Park North Creek Park Boardwalk Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who'd love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

Spring is here, and this year it arrived on its own timeline. After a winter that felt more like spring, winter finally arrived and brought snow before we officially said hello to the new season. We spent a lot of time waiting, watching, and letting the garden tell us what it needed before we jumped in. That kind of patience is its own form of care. In this episode, Stevie and I are talking about what it really means to tend a garden well, the work we are doing right now across our client properties, and why this season has a way of pulling the gardening community together in the best possible way. In this episode, I cover: Why this spring has felt different, and how watching and waiting is sometimes the most important work you can do in the garden Why maintenance sometimes gets a bad reputation, and how shifting the way you think about it, from ongoing chore to actively attending to your space, changes the way you show up for your garden and the work you do in it The hands-on work of spring: what to observe on your walk-through, how to handle voracious spreaders, and how containers can act as your own personal nursery What to do when spring feels overwhelming, or your garden is not where you want it to be. How to get out of your head, get something on paper, and find a way to participate in your space right now Why spring is the season gardeners find each other, and how plant sales, garden tours, and even a bouquet on a neighbor's doorstep can turn a solitary act into something shared Resources: Free Spring Gardening Guide Lake Washington Tech Plant Sale - April 24 - 25, 2026 Episode 6: Plant Propagation and Divisions Connect with Us: Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We have got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who would love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

Lisa Nunamaker is a landscape architect, educator, and the founder of Paper Garden Workshop, where she teaches garden design and landscape graphics to aspiring designers and curious homeowners alike. What I love about Lisa is that she doesn't just teach you what to do in your garden. She teaches you how to think about it. In this conversation, we get into the idea of designing for people first, how constraints actually unlock creativity, and a concept from a book that genuinely stopped me in my tracks: celebratory beacons. We also talk about drawing, digital tools, dogs, and why slowing down before you start is almost always the right move.   The Collective Bootcamp registration is now open and begins on March 23. Learn more and register here.   In this episode, we discuss: How Lisa found her way into landscape architecture, and why the path was anything but direct Why constraints make you more creative, and how taking two completely unrelated ideas and smashing them together can unlock a garden design you'd never find otherwise Getting comfortable with drawing before going digital, the tools that make the transition easier, and low-tech ways to start planning your space with things you already have Celebratory beacons, what they are, why every garden needs at least one, and the book that changed how Lisa thinks about designing spaces for people Why spatial design comes before planting design, and what happens when you flip that order How slowing down and observing how you actually use your space, dogs, traffic patterns, and all, leads to better decisions than jumping straight to a plan Resources and Links Lisa Nunamaker / Paper Garden Workshop Paper Garden Workshop The Pencil Case — Lisa's free newsletter on garden design and landscape graphics you can view all past newsletters here. The Collective Bootcamp — begins March 23 Garden Design Collective — monthly design membership, opens in late March The Peanut Butter and Jelly Garden — free e-book The Lunchbox Project — A sample of drawings from Lisa's year-long daily drawing project. Books Mentioned Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee Conversation Gardens: Where Conversations Flow and Relationships Grow by Lynn Kuhn Residential Landscape Architecture: Design Process for the Private Residence by Norman K. Booth and James E. Hiss Educators Mentioned Amy Fedele / Pretty Purple Door — Procreate for landscape designers Henry Gao / Draw With Gao — Morpholio Trace for designers Kelly D. Norris — ecological horticulture and the New Naturalism Academy Digital Drawing + Tools Morpholio Trace Procreate Paperlike Lines of Force Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and send it to a friend who loves thinking about their garden as much as you do. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

Over the next few weeks, we're walking through the process I use when designing spaces for my clients. It’s all about acknowledging people, developing priorities, and setting parameters, and how to use those three things to design a space that's actually designed around your life. If you've ever looked at your garden and felt like something was off, or you couldn't quite put your finger on why, or you're not even sure where to begin, this series is for you. In this episode, we cover: Why the garden you're imagining and the garden you end up with are often so different, and what's actually standing in the way of having a garden that feels like you Why starting with plants and inspiration before doing the foundational thinking is where most gardens get stuck, and what to do instead Why we often forget to acknowledge our own needs in a garden, assume we'll figure it out later, and end up with clutter piling up because the space isn't actually serving how we live Why gardens are only as beautiful as they are maintained, and why most people don't think about upkeep and ongoing care when they're creating new spaces How defined parameters and a no list reduce decision fatigue, make plant shopping less overwhelming, and are what turn a collection of beautiful plants into a cohesive space with a real point of view Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your gardening friends.  Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

Today I want to pull the curtain back on our 2026 Northwest Flower & Garden Show garden, the Preserver's Jewel Box. You might already know the general concept, but today we're going deeper. I want to talk about what this garden actually is, where the inspiration came from, and how the design evolved as we got closer to build week. We'll dig into the parameters, the pivots, the key features, and yes, the plants. The concept came from the way I've always thought about the preserves I put up from my garden. In winter, when nothing's producing, those jars on the shelf, the jams, the pickled things, the preserved tomatoes, those are the jewels. The garden keeps giving back to you. That's the whole heart of this garden. In this episode, I cover: How the concept of a jewel box shaped the layout, the structure, and the story we're trying to tell The inspiration behind our color palette, from picking up on the hues of preserved foods to the patina in the copper, and how that informed our bloom color. The key design features: the river of jars, the custom arbor, and the table (including the $16,000 one that didn't make the cut) How much you can actually grow in a small footprint, and what it looks like to treat edible plants with the same intention and beauty we bring to ornamental gardening The hardscape materials running through this garden, the salvaged copper, the brick, and why I'm having a total moment with brick right now Resources & Partners Raintree Nursery, specialty fruit trees and edible plants by mail order, including the papaya, blueberries, and many of the incredible plants in this garden. Use code RAINTREEXRELISH26 at checkout for 10% off your order: raintreenursery.com Rainy Day Bees, does hive housing in the greater Seattle region. We hosted four of their hives in this garden, which were custom-painted by Asha to match our garden. If you want honey, we recommend their creamed honey trio, it’s genuinely incredible. Thanks to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show Sponsors: Hardscape Materials: Mutual Materials Mulch: Pacific Topsoils Plant material:  T & L Nursery Northwest Nurseries Easy Elegance Roses Pots:  Potteryland Construction: Arbor Construction: Modern Outdoor Oasis Construction / Tear down support: Green Horizon Landscape & Construction Volunteers: A huge thank you to our volunteers from Lake Washington Tech Horticulture Program.  Plants For the full plant list from this garden, visit relish-gardens.com/plant Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram: @relish.gardens Follow us on YouTube If you loved this episode, subscribe and pass it along to a gardening friend. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

With only 72 hours to transform a design concept into a finished garden, the build for the Northwest Flower & Garden Show is intense.  Stevie has been with me since the beginning, from volunteering in other’s gardens, to now our third year under Relish Gardens. In this episode, we talk about what actually happens behind the scenes during those three days. There’s something about the choreography of it all, the coordination, the problem-solving, the late nights, those make it work moments.  Giveaway Alert! We're giving away two tickets to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show each week. Visit https://relish-gardens.com/nwfgs-2026-ticket-giveaway/ to enter. In this episode, we discuss: The reality of build week logistics and timeline - What actually happens during those 72 hours, from late nights to tight deadlines, and how the experience feels like we are in a reality TV show.  Planning for pivots and adapting designs in real time - Why you come in with a solid plan but need to stay flexible when materials don't cooperate, structural issues pop up, or designs need on-the-fly adjustments to actually work The choreography and coordination of construction - Managing the to-do list, orchestrating multiple tasks and people, and the careful dance of getting everything done in the right order under serious time constraints Opening day and engaging with the public - The rewarding shift from exhausted builder to garden host, answering visitor questions, sharing the work, and experiencing how people interact with what you've created The post-show moment and why we're excited for 2026 - That familiar "never again" feeling that hits after build week, and what's pulling us back this year despite knowing exactly how hard it will be Resources Northwest Flower & Garden Show FREE Ticket Giveaway Purchase discount tickets for the show Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who'd love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

I'm so excited about today's conversation. I'm sitting down with Kate from Hello Gardens. Kate and I run in the same circles. We see each other at industry events and across the convention center floor. We wave, but we don't really get time to sit down and talk.  We intended to talk just about the show, but this conversation wove in and out because that's what happens when you're in the same world and you never get enough time to connect.  Giveaway Alert! We're giving away two tickets to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show each week. Visit https://relish-gardens.com/nwfgs-2026-ticket-giveaway/ to enter. In this episode, we discuss: Kate's journey from attending the show for almost 25 years to finally designing her first garden, and the surprising thing that finally made her reach out to Lloyd. The stories behind her first three show gardens, plus a sneak peak at both of our plans for this year's gardens.  Why the Northwest Flower & Garden Show feels like New Year's Day for the gardening community, and how it creates a ripple effect across the entire industry The behind-the-scenes reality of designing show gardens, contending with weather, and what happens when your entire color palette has to change 2 weeks out from the show. Resources Hello Garden YouTube Channel Françoise Weeks Northwest Flower & Garden Show FREE Ticket Giveaway Purchase discount tickets for the show Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who'd love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

Ever wondered what it takes to pull off one of the biggest garden events in the Pacific Northwest? This week, I sat down with Lloyd Glasscock, Garden Coordinator for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, to get the inside scoop on everything that happens behind the curtain. Lloyd has built 36 gardens since 1990 and now coordinates the entire show. He's seen just about everything that can go right and wrong when you're transforming a convention center into a garden paradise in just days.  Giveaway Alert! We're giving away two tickets to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show each week. Visit https://relish-gardens.com/nwfgs-2026-ticket-giveaway/ to enter.   In this episode, we discuss: Lloyd's 30+ year journey at the show, from building his first garden in 1990 to coordinating the entire event. What the weeks leading up to the event look like, from managing gardener questions, coordinating logistics between two back-to-back shows, and the calm before the storm The surprisingly small team that helps pull together 20 gardens, 300 booth spaces, and 100 seminars for over 50,000 people—and what build days look like for Lloyd as he's often clocking between 20,000 - 50,000 steps a day. Why the show is so great for getting new work, and how even people who say they are not looking for a landscaper can be swayed by the gardens they see. Resources Northwest Flower & Garden Show FREE Ticket Giveaway Purchase discount tickets for the show Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your gardening friends.  Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

Long before I was a designer at the Northwest Flower and Garden show, I started as an attendee, marking up my catalog and planning my day around seminars and show gardens. I then became a volunteer, shadowing Lloyd and helping out wherever was needed. Eventually I stepped into designing show gardens, and this year I'm doing something new again. I'm speaking at the event for the first time and competing in Container Wars. Today, I want to talk about my journey through the show and the important role it's played in my life since moving to Washington. This episode kicks off a series we're doing as we countdown to the show. We're about four weeks out, and over the next month we'll be sharing conversations with other designers, the people working behind the scenes, and reflections from our team as we prepare our next garden. If you've ever been curious about what the Northwest Flower and Garden Show is all about, or what it takes to create one of these gardens, this series is for you.   In this episode, I cover: How the garden show became my annual escape from winter and what drew me in as an attendee The pivot during COVID that led me to reach out to Lloyd on LinkedIn and start volunteering Reflecting on my journey as a show garden designer, the inspiration behind the themes, and winning People's Choice. Why I love show gardens as opportunities to educate people about different gardening perspectives and cool plants they might not otherwise see A glimpse into our 2026 design theme, and what I'm doing differently this year as a first-time speaker and Container Wars competitor Resources Northwest Flower & Garden Show FREE Ticket Giveaway Purchase discount tickets for the show Check out our 2024 Show Garden Check out our 2025 Show Garden Little Prince Nursery Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your gardening friends.  Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

It's early January. The days are short, it's cold, and there's often a desire to close the door on the garden until spring. But winter isn't a season to hide from. It's a season to work with on your terms, at your pace, and with intention. The time you spend now makes everything easier come spring. It makes your garden healthier and more beautiful. And even just getting out there for a little bit each day can be enjoyable and beneficial. In this episode, Stevie joins me to talk about what we're focusing on in our client gardens this winter. We talk about how strange this season has been because it's warm, things are blooming and popping up when they shouldn't be, and we're pausing on important dormant pruning work until plants actually go fully dormant. We discuss what we're prioritizing right now, our favorite winter projects, and what makes this season worth embracing. In this episode, we cover: What we love about winter in the garden, and why small intentional work now can lead to a less overwhelming spring Why winter in the Seattle region is so different this year, and how it impacts the work we're doing in client gardens Why we love dormant winter pruning, and why pruning techniques like espalier and pleaching feel like long-form sculpture The joy of seed shopping and seed swaps, and the hope that planning for the future brings when it's cold and rainy in January Why winter is the perfect time to add bare root trees to your garden and a low-stakes way to learn something new Resources Pruning with Confidence YouTube Playlist Episode 5: How to Choose the Right Tree for Your Garden Free Winter Gardening Guide Free Winter Pruning Guide Seattle Tilth Seed Swap Raintree Nursery Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

I've been thinking a lot about where inspiration actually comes from. Not just where I find it, but where anyone finds it. And here's what I keep coming back to: garden design inspiration doesn't have to come from other gardens or even from plants. Some of my favorite inspiration comes from totally unexpected places. A dress. A meal. A painting hanging in someone's living room. Because at the end of the day, gardens are personal, intimate spaces where life happens and memories are built. So today, I'm walking you through my actual process for finding design inspiration anywhere and translating it into gardens that feel unique to the people who live there. In this episode, I cover: How to filter through the flood of New Year’s inspiration without wiping the slate clean or throwing out what you already love Why looking beyond plants and gardens for inspiration and paying attention to what lights you up might be the key to designing spaces that feel personal How the things you've curated in your home are clues to what you love, and why I start every design project by walking through my clients' homes How to train your eye to see design elements everywhere by breaking things down into color, texture, shape, and line to distill patterns Silly but intentional thought exercises (like designing a garden based on a Crunchwrap Supreme) that help unlock creativity and find inspiration in very unexpected places Resources: The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden by Roy Diblik Shop our full list of favorite books at https://bookshop.org/lists/favorite-books-relish-gardens. Every purchase supports independent bookstores. Some of the links are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. We only share things we genuinely love, use, and trust in our day-to-day garden work. Connect with Us: Free Winter Gardening Guide Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this episode, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know gardening friends who would love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

We're in planning season, and this is when I pull out all my books and start developing ideas for the year ahead. I'm not a coffee table book kind of person. My books are dog-eared, written in, stuffed with pieces of paper. They're used and loved. Some came from my grandpa's collection, others I've picked up over the years, but if a book stays on my shelf, it's because I refer to it over and over, or because it's worth lending out. Today I'm walking through the books that have earned their permanent spot in my garden library, and the new ones I am currently reading through. These are the books that help me think more deeply about plants, connect ideas in the garden, and plan how I actually want to use my space. In this episode, I cover: Why I still choose books over endless internet searches, and what curated knowledge offers that Google can't How I've built a working reference library as a gardener and cook, and what makes a book worth keeping The different roles books play: broad inspiration, deep plant-specific knowledge, and seasonal living guides How plant-obsessed authors give you a window into their passion and help you see familiar plants in completely new ways Why seasonal cookbooks aren't just about food—they're about understanding what's happening in the garden and connecting to place How regional cooking traditions can mirror your own climate and offer unexpected insight into what grows well where you live Key moments: 00:00:00 - Why I Love Books The ritual of planning season, family influence, and why books are working tools that earn their place 00:05:01 - Essential Garden References The foundational books I return to: plant ID, regional guides, and maintenance basics 00:08:09 - Plant-Specific Deep Dives How books about roses and pansies help you see familiar plants in completely new ways 00:12:41 - Foraging: Learning About Plants I'll Never Grow Building a collection of foraging books from around the world and why I love them 00:16:22 - Cooking and Living a Seasonal Life Seasonal cookbooks that connect what's in the garden to what's on the table 00:18:47 - Closing Thoughts Pull out the books you already love and give them another look   Books Mentioned: Shop our full list at https://bookshop.org/lists/favorite-books-relish-gardens Every purchase supports independent bookstores. Plant Identification and Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary by James G. Harris Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year by Christina Pfeiffer and Mary Robson Tilth Alliance’s Maritime Northwest Garden Guide from Seattle Tilth Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning: What, When, Where, and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden by Cass Turnbull Pansies: How to Grow, Reimagine, and Create Beauty with Pansies and Violas by Brenna Estrada Roses in the Garden by Ngoc Minh Ngo Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest by Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Linda Chalker-Scott The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater Saving the Season by Kevin West Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen Eat Weeds: A Field Guide to Foraging: How to Identify, Harvest, Eat and Use Wild Plants by Diego Bonetto Some of the links are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. We only share things we genuinely love, use, and trust in our day-to-day garden work.  Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website FREE Guide - What to do in your winter garden Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with a fellow gardener who might be building their own library. And if you have garden books you love and return to, I'd love to hear about them—I'm always looking for new inspiration. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

There's something really grounding about returning to the same rhythms year after year. Showing up for the season. Showing up for yourself and the people around you. We set out to talk about seasonal rhythms in the garden, but what we ended up exploring is how those rhythms actually inform life, how repetition becomes ritual, and how those rituals anchor us through time. In this episode, Nicole (my podcast producer and Relish Gardens marketing extraordinaire) joins me to share how she uses nature-based activities to help her kids connect to the season.  Winter is a good moment to reflect on which activities you keep in your life, which ones you prioritize, and why you value them. Because it's those small things, the ones you return to again and again, that create real connection. In this episode, I cover: How traditions and seasonal rhythms ground us through the passage of time and connect us across years The mindset shift from seeing storm debris as a chore to getting excited about materials for winter pots and bonfires Nicole's approach to "microdosing anticipation" for her kids through nature-based advent calendar activities How putting the garden to bed creates space for both reflection on the past year and anticipation for what's coming Resources Free Winter Gardening Guide Frog Pond Farm (Oregon) Connect with Us Relish Gardens Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on YouTube If you loved this episode, subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you know a gardening friend who'd appreciate this conversation, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.