In addition to last week's Rose-breasted Grosbeak sighting, this week our yard was visited by a pair of Baltimore Orioles. What a glorious flash of spring color and melodious song! I spent a fair part of the morning watching them diving down into our gardens, poking around and then emerging victorious with a strand of dry grass or other plant material held trophy-like in their beaks. One by one these treasures were flown to a maple tree with a branch growing out over the lake where they were carefully woven into a dangling nest.

Dr. Vandana Shiva is a weaver extraordinaire of yet another type. She is a weaver of words, philosophy and ethics primarily around the topics of agriculture and food. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to the creation of Navdanya in 1991, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. I had the unbelievable good fortune to hear her speak in person at The Hickories, for the second time, this past week. Her talk was both sobering and inspiring. I encourage you to learn more about this strong, intelligent woman and the work she is doing throughout the globe.

Dr. Shiva's talk this past week validated, for me, the work I have been engaged with this year with growing native wildflowers from locally collected seed. I have been blown away by how many plants I have been able to produce in just a small space at home. Next week I will share some amazing data from my little native plant nursery experiment.