Growing Gardens and Community
Volunteers helped make 2026 Reno County Extension Master Garden Tour a success
In the early part of May, I had become completely overwhelmed and wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I faced one big thing I had long before agreed to do - the Annual Reno County Extension Garden Tour - and another big thing that I desperately wanted and needed to do, Biking Across Kansas.
And the required preparation and deadlines to make both of those things happen at all - let alone well - seemed impossible.
Some of my close friends offered their help, and got me moving in the right direction by clearing out some areas that I hadn’t invested much energy into. That helped me see both how much work needed to be done, and that it was possible.
Kathy, the team leader for my stop on the tour, clearly saw my concern and worked to assure me that everything would come together just fine.
But it was my daughter who really understood my anxiety and first helped figure out the solution that got through worry about what I saw as a looming crisis.
Erica calmly and boldly offered that I should focus on training and getting ready for BAK, since that’s where my heart was at, and that she’d put in extra effort to make sure my garden was ready for visitors. I followed her instructions and advice (she’s a Master Gardener, too, so she’s my go-to on all things plants), and did what I could - but largely I focused my effort on training for BAK.
She worked alongside a dedicated team of Master Gardeners, who spent a lot of hours and much effort to clear out much of the mess time and neglect had helped create - all while I spent the week traversing the state on my bike.
I left for Johnson City, Kansas, on June 5, and my daughter and her family returned home from a trip on June 5. The Garden Tour was set for Saturday, June 13, which was the same day that I rode from Baxter Springs to Pittsburg, Kansas, for the final leg of BAK.
By the time I arrived home Saturday evening, roughly 300 people had explored my backyard and enjoyed some of the beauty that I get to enjoy in it every day. And that makes me feel really happy. I received a lot of nice comments, and even some cards in the mail thanking me for opening up my home to the community.
But I can’t really take much credit for any of it - that belongs to the Master Gardener team assigned to my home, my daughter, and the extra volunteers who gave of themselves to restore the space.
And to Millie Reed, who has played an outsized role since I was a kid in 4th or 5th grade.
I inherited her garden when she left to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She spent more than 20 years transforming a somewhat neglected rental house into an urban oasis.
The garden is wild. It lacks the order one expects to see in traditional gardens. Every season, every day, is a surprise - with something new growing into bloom. In Millie’s garden, seeds are spread by wind, by bird, and by hand. Its wildness feels intentional. Not controlled or curated, but guided by nature’s impulses and caressed by someone who understands them.
It’s what drew me to her home when it became available.
Often, I think, we can feel as if the challenges we face are ours alone. That it is impolite, burdensome, or otherwise inconsiderate to ask for the help we need. The lore of so much American life is that of the rugged, determined, individual who overcomes all the adversity of the world against the odds, with the wind in our faces, alone against those who would stop us.
That happens less than I think we’d care to admit.
In reality, our best strength lies in community. It’s where we can share ideas and test solutions. It’s where we can build a plan, divide and assign tasks, and put our collective efforts to work. It’s where we can accelerate growth.
A healthy community gives us permission to ask for the help we need. When we do that, we accomplish more, grow stronger together, and nurture the growth that’s still to come.
My goal for the first year in Millie’s house was to not kill what she had built. I largely managed that, even if at times it seemed a little on the edge. I felt overwhelmed, and unsure of what to do next.
The people, this community, came to help and didn’t ask or expect anything in return. They cleared out brush and weeds, added new life to empty areas, and came up with clever ways to showcase the area.
To everyone who helped restore Millie’s Wild Wonder, - Thank You. It’s humbling to know how much work so many of you put into making this place, and that day, special. Not just for me, but for the hundreds of people who visited.
What a gift you’ve given to our community by sharing your time, your creativity, your knowledge, and your work - year after year, throughout Hutchinson and Reno County.
What they’ll get, in addition to my appreciation, is a renewed hope and focus to preserve and respect the work they so generously offered to me. I have now moved beyond the “just don’t let things die” phase. This past weekend, my son Mitch helped me lay down a big truckload of mulch, with plans to do more in coming weekends. (I sorely underestimated how much mulch I’ll need). There are ideas and conversations about additions that might complement the garden spaces.
The overwhelming moved to reachable, and the reachable moved to successful - and it’s inertia creates belief in what is yet possible.
I think that’s how growth really happens.
In gardens and communities.
