I know it might seem curious to read “end of summer bounty” on October 26th but we have truly been celebrating the bounty of summer in our gardens at Flawless. The weather has been intermittently summer like and just this weekend, my son and I went to a farm to pick pumpkins and picked so much more – tomatoes, peppers and even strawberries – Amazing!
Surprisingly, last Wednesday, we had a warm, sunny beautiful day in the garden with our favorite class of gardeners at Pioneer. It was incredible, we started working in the greenhouse, preparing for winter and we were able to harvest a bunch of produce and flowers. I was so moved to see the various classes coming out to the courtyard that we have brought so much life to through the gardening and art – we had kids drawing still life pictures eating things that they were picking(one boy actually liked raw cabbage – so good!) , watering, weeding, greenhousing – It was such a celebration. And as always, we notice that the children are more at peace surrounded by the beauty and miracle of growing and nature.
The therapeutic benefits of this gardening program have gone way beyond my wildest dreams. I am still in awe of the day that one of the boys was very agitated and distressed and wasnt able to get on the bus until I arrived with the infamous bowl of basil and tomatoes that I had just harvested in the garden. Once the boy had inhaled the strong aroma of the basil, he came completely back to his body and calmed down. It was truly a miracle to watch him walk down the hallway to his bus, carrying some tomatoes home to his family. Aromatherapy for sure!!
Other summer memories – chock full of abundance and celebration and growth for Flawless. June was our big Perfection Party Gala in NYC which was a super fun and successful event. July brought the launch of our gardening projects and August was our Collaborative Problem Solving Conference at OHSU.( along with the festive Champagne Reception at the Saxton’s to honor Dr. Ablon from Think Kids) We are so grateful for the Obama’s commitment to community service and the declation of the Summer of 09 to be the Summer of Service. September 11th was designated as a national day of service and many of our corporate donors participated in donating a portion of their proceeds to Flawless that day. Thank you to Alice Hair, Stella and Dot, The Green Grocer, Bob’s African Wines, SE Grind, Bluesky Wellness and Lulu. “Summer of service” – That is definitely what it was about for us here at Flawless.
