Look who’s turn it was to be Star of the Week in his classroom!

Each kid gets a turn, and they need to make a poster of photos and talk to the class about their heritage or a family tradition. Fortunately, it’s also ok just to share about something that they like or is important to them. After all, the point of this exercise is to give everyone practice giving a presentation in front of a group,

Wyatt decided that he wanted to talk about his work in the Presidio Native Plant Nursery and the secret garden.

I don’t know if this happens to you, too, but when I’m caught up in the day to day of parenting and life, I don’t take time to reflect on where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and what progress we’ve made. Honestly, I usually only review photos after a trip, and only then if I’m making a book of them. Reviewing photos from the last two years of volunteer work was pretty astonishing. Cutting the set down to a reasonable number for the poster was really challenging, too.

Wyatt and I have learned and done a lot since our first session where we scrubbed pots the whole time. We’ve helped to build a greenhouse, we’ve prepared soil, prepared for raised beds, rodent-proofed, pest-proofed, pruned, collected seeds, helped to banish phytopthora from key areas, weeded, mowed using our own power, watered, planted, replanted, labeled, cared for native plants, learned about endangered plants, swept, washed, dug out ditches, moved mulch, and so many other things. More than that, we’ve learned about and done all these things within a big caring community of employees, interns, and volunteers.

Here are some photos from nearly two years of volunteering with the Presidio Nursery—every photo we included in the poster and then some. We are so lucky to be part of a volunteer family doing so much meaningful work.

If you haven’t found your volunteer family yet, keep looking. You’ll be glad when you do.