I used to think flowers were a waste of money. In fact, I said that to my husband one valentine’s day, that he didn’t have to worry about buying me flowers, I’d rather the money go to something else that will last. I’ve never been a gardener, our yard for the most part has been quite baron.

Since being vegan, something has changed. I’m more connected to the world around me and have been paying more attention to everything. I’m not even making an exerted effort to pay attention, it’s just my new way of being.

I was on a lunch hour walk this summer and walked around an ant. I don’t think I would have given this a second thought before. Old me probably would have stepped on the poor ant.

This year, we planted a native plant garden to help our pollinators and planted trees in the yard. I am excited to come home every day and watch the bees feeding in the garden and the birds in the trees. I squat down and get close to the bees, and they don’t mind at all, they’re busy!

As Alberta is in a 5 to 7 year drought depending on who you ask, I wanted to plant a native garden to help our native pollinators, but also because it’s drought resistant which means less water use. Native plants are also more cost effective than planting annuals each year. The City of Calgary actually issued our first ever water restrictions on August 15, 2023 following record-high temperatures paired with dry conditions and little precipitation, so planting native plants to help native species is critical for our native species but also from a water management perspective and those with native gardens do not use pesticides (which are also harmful to our native species). So many reasons to plant a native garden. Nature is beautiful.

Here’s a video of what I ate this past week, this one includes some video of what I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving along with some of my meal prep.

Peace, love & plants,

Michelle 😊

p.s. In a world that is broken, what are you grateful for today?

p.p.s. Never give up hope. 🙂