WOMEN
March is Women’s History Month! This has been so exciting because I usually have so much to say about a lot of things… but especially about women.
If you’ve stopped at the Pear Bloom Farm Market in the past, you’ve probably noticed that there were lots of elements celebrating women sprinkled throughout. At Pear Bloom, we’re all about the vibes, and there’s a bright feminine vibe at it’s heart. Why? As shared in last month’s newsletter, everything comes from the heart; and much of the strength, inspiration and determination in mine has come from being surrounded by strong, smart women. This energy has infused anything and everything I’ve done.
I’d like to introduce to you one of many incredible women in my life. There aren’t enough words to describe her strength and beauty, but I'll give it a try because my love of gardening and flowers all come from her.
My grandmother Esperanza
(meaning hope in Spanish)
She was an indigenous Mexican woman who grew up in the mountains bordering Jalisco and Colima, Mexico. Growing up, she would pick coffee on plantations at the foot of an active volcano (imagine lava and smoke spewing from the top!). She and her brother were orphaned at a young age and went to live with their aunt, but then she lost her brother to a scorpion sting.
Although, she went through this loss as a child, she was still able to see the beauty of the world - I know because her stories were always of beauty. She used to tell me about the never-ending fields of Dahlias she saw when she was a child, and now when I see dahlias, I think of her.
Did you know that Dahlias are native to Mexico and are the national flower?
As a young woman, she lost her first husband just forty days after giving birth to her first daughter, Lina. This loss could have devasted the rest of her life, but instead it seemed that her love just grew, as she poured her heart into raising her daughter. Even though it was unheard of for a woman to be on her own with a daughter, she took her daughter and moved to a hacienda where she worked in the fields. There, she met my grandfather and had nine more children. Through all of this, she ALWAYS kept flowers and even though she worked in the fields all day long, she always had time to garden and grow flowers.
Long story short, my family immigrated to the Columbia River Gorge in the 1980’s. I grew up helping her tend to flowers and listening to her stories and laughter. Until her last breath, flowers were her constant companion and now she is the flower that gives me hope. No one on earth will ever convince me that flowers aren’t a necessity.
As this month comes to a close, I invite you to think about the women in your life who have given you hope. Was it an act of kindness? Courage? Defiance? Vulnerability?
TO THE COAST
We took our annual pre-spring-chaos trip to the Oregon coast this month! I REALLY needed it. It may seem early in the year to be in need of a major break already, however, the lesson I've finally learned (and hopefully don’t forget) is that I personally need to build in intentional breaks way before I approach burn out. There’s a lot of planning, decision making, and paperwork (blah!) that happens early in the year all while the spring is barreling towards us... So anyway, the coast! It was AWESOME! We happened to have the warmest, sunniest Oregon weekend I’ve ever experienced and I found so much inspiration while I was there.
Now I’m back, ready to move forward, fully inspired, rejuvenated, and more determined than ever to get this farm ready for all of you to enjoy. It was extra special seeing our first blooms of Daffodils on the farm right when we got back. Oh, how I love being a woman.
With love,
Yesenia
