Hey everyone,

Jenn here. It’s been a while since my last post but school has been super busy. We are almost finished our soils module and have a test and essay/presentation just around the corner. We are also nearing our 40 plants plant id test, the BIG test, which is always a bit of a cram session. I can not, no matter how much I study, get all those latin names into my head. It’s just too darn many!

Now that we are almost half way through our program, we have started doing maintenance on Fridays which involves using machinery like the mowers and string trimmers. It has definitely proven to be quite the political debate as to whether or not we should even be learning how to use these machines since they aren’t part of a sustainable future. The bottom line seems to be that we need to know how because A) it will be on our final training standard test and B) almost everybody uses them in the industry. What are your thoughts on this matter?

On another note, I hope everyone has had a chance to wander around the parks of Victoria and check out the beautiful wildflowers. Uplands Park near Cattle Point is an amazing show of camas right now. My partner and I went and sat on a rock in there for a while and it was incredible how many different bees we saw. No honey bees mind you, but lots of furry fat ones, white ones, and all sorts of others I have never noticed. Eric also caught a glimpse of the mason bee, one I have been obsessing about lately. I would add a picture but I still haven’t figured out how to crunch my pictures small enough.. argh. If you are interested in checking out the wildflowers before the show is over, Beacon Hill Park, Anderson Hill, Playfair Park, and Knockan Hill are a few other places that look really beautiful right now.

Happy Gardening!

Jenn