WHG News – November 2025

News from the Garden

Issue 36 I November 2025

With gratitude.

This time of year offers deep opportunity to contemplate what it means to give. The thankful and thankless task of grace offered while preparing meals, sharing food, listening, holding, seeing….

One of our favorite poets is Mary Oliver. And one of our favorite poems is To Begin With, the Sweet Grass. Such simple language and poignancy. Our favorite line: it's giving until the giving feels like receiving.

It’s how we feel about this life we have now, at Western Hills Garden.

To Begin With, the Sweet Grass

by Mary Oliver

I.
Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat
of the sweet grass?
Will the owl bite off its own wings?
Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air or
forget to sing?
Will the rivers run upstream?

Behold, I say—behold the reliability and the finery and the teachings of this gritty earth gift.

II.
Eat bread and understand comfort.
Drink water, and understand delight.
Visit the garden where the scarlet trumpets
are opening their bodies for the hummingbirds

who are drinking the sweetness, who are
thrillingly gluttonous.

For one thing leads to another.
Soon you will notice how stones shine underfoot.
Eventually tides will be the only calendar you believe in.

And someone's face, whom you love, will be as a star
both intimate and ultimate,
and you will be both heart-shaken and respectful.

And you will hear the air itself, like a beloved, whisper:
oh, let me, for a while longer, enter the two beautiful bodies of your lungs.

III.
The witchery of living
is my whole conversation
with you, my darlings.
All I can tell you is what I know.

Look, and look again.
This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes.

It's more than bones.
It's more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse.
It's more than the beating of the single heart.
It's praising.
It's giving until the giving feels like receiving.
You have a life—just imagine that!
You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe
still another.

IV. Someday I am going to ask my friend Paulus, the dancer, the potter, to make me a begging bowl which I believe my soul needs. And if I come to you, to the door of your comfortable house with unwashed clothes and unclean fingernails, will you put something into it? I would like to take this chance. I would like to give you this chance. V.
We do one thing or another; we stay the same, or we
change. Congratulations, if
you have changed.

VI.
Let me ask you this. Do you also think that beauty exists for some
fabulous reason?

And, if you have not been enchanted by this adventure—
your life—
what would do for you?

VII.

What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly myself.
Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to.
That was many years ago.
Since then I have gone out from my confinements,
though with difficulty.
I mean the ones that thought to rule my heart.
I cast them out, I put them on the mush pile.
They will be nourishment somehow (everything is nourishment somehow or another).

And I have become the child of the clouds, and of hope.
I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever that is.
I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned,
I have become younger.

And what do I risk to tell you this, which is all I know?
Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.

Harvesting rain.

One of our 2025 goals was to install a rainwater catchment system. We manage our water output carefully, but use a lot in the garden, especially in the summer. It’s a drain (pun intended!) on our well and our watershed.

While we inherited many important tools and systems when we bought the property in 2021, a water tank was not one of them. We started researching options right away and got connected to our Resource Conservation District who told us about a range of programs we could consider. We started raising funds to cover the costs and looking for grant programs.

This fall, Justin took charge and found an opportunity through Conservation Works, a nonprofit supporting resource protection and community sustainability in Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. Water conservation is one of their priorities, along with ecosystem restoration, fire resilience education, and climate change actions.

They had one 5,000 gallon tank left in their 2025 grant program, and we were lucky enough to receive it. It meant a quick turnaround to prep for the install, but we cranked it out with our amazing team and are excited to start collecting our rainwater for use this coming summer.

Thanks to all who supported our fundraising efforts. Your donation helped cover our staff time and supplies for this project. We’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

WATCH A SHORT VIDEO OF THE INSTALL

Justin’s Hort Report.

This month I'd like to give thanks to the Western Hills Horticultural Advisory Committee (the WHHAC!) who once again blew us away with their generosity and support a couple weeks ago when we all convened at the garden for our second brainstorming retreat.

Way back in February, the committee helped us flesh out our Curatorial Vision Statement, so I was eager to get them back here to start realizing that vision. We broke the group up into three teams, each focusing on a specific area of the garden for rehabilitation and redesign: the Australians, the Native Mound, and the Rock Garden.

I was a little nervous about whether the experiment would work. Will they think this was the right approach? Will the teams reach consensus, or at least avoid infighting? Will we come away with solid ideas we can build upon? Of course it all went swimmingly, and in just a few hours each team analyzed their area and came up with a ton of design ideas, some of them quite bold, but all making perfect sense. We ended the day with a happy hour with a few neighbors and a well-earned homemade pizza party.

It's truly inspiring to be around such experienced horticultural minds, all donating their time and expertise to help make our little garden thrive. I would feel intimidated if not for their warmness and openness.

Stay tuned in the first half of 2026 as we make big changes to the Australians and Natives sections, just in time for the APGA Annual Conference in June, which is being held in the Bay Area with a special tour to WHG. Thanks to the WHHAC, we're surely going to WOW them!

Program updates.

We’re feeling a pull to decorate this time of year. If you are too, bring your friends and family to the garden, and take a piece of our greenery home with you. Our wreath making tables are stocked with branches, wreath forms, wire, and a handy crimper. $30 includes one wreath and supplies.

Join us in the garden on December 7th from 10-12pm for a FREE workshop with Conservation Works to learn the benefits of rainwater harvesting. It can be easier than you think! Click the button below to register.

Shout outs.

Last month we gave a shout out to the Occidental Community Council. We’re continuing that focus again this month to encourage you all to stop by the Holiday Craft Faire. A fundraiser for the Council, this is a true community gem where local makers and artisans join with community musicians and crafters to share their wares for the holiday season. It’s a must do for those in the know, and now you are part of that circle. Make sure to stop by if you’re in the area.

And if you’re looking for fun items, be sure to check out the new Western Hills Garden online shop. Decor, gifts, and other fun items from the garden.

Our annual appeal.

We used our October newsletter to ask for your support. It’s a highlight of our accomplishments and impact and an appeal to help us scale our team and offerings. If you missed it, you can read it here. And check out our new impact page on our website.

If you’d like to make a donation please click below. All amounts, no matter the size, help us with our mission to link people, plants, and place with possibility.

Thank you for your interest and belief in this place. We hope you have a joyful, celebratory, reflective December. Happy holidays!

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Western Hills Garden is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit organization with a mission to link people, plants, and place to possibility. Thanks for reading our monthly News from the Garden.

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