WOK members Beth Flynn and Christa Walck welcomed chapter members to their homes skirting the west side of the Keweenaw Peninsula July 24 for a Show Me, Help Me visit. Beth has a magnificent fenced-in, deer-proof vegetable garden which is gradually getting shaded by a line of trees. Members encouraged her to plant natives in the raised beds that are a not quite sunny enough for vegetables. More than just a good use of space, they could attract beneficial insects to prey on garden pests.
Christa’s home sits on a dune overlooking Lake Superior and has the soil to prove it. Sand-loving plants from the Wild Ones native plant sale are thriving there, and member Liz Gerson advised her on what to do about a bare slope next to her house: transplant some of the natives, including bush honeysuckle, that are growing just a few feet away.
With many of us vaccinated, we sat down together for a luncheon on Christa’s comfy front porch. After all those Zoom meetings, it was great to get together to break bread—and cookies—face to face.
Beth’s vegetable garden
Christa’s cottage garden
Common milkweed at Beth’s place