Staff Spotlight: The Gardener

Where a love of being outside and the ability to try, fail, learn, and try again intersect – that’s where you’ll find gardeners. The fearless leader of our Human Resources Department by day and avid gardener in her free time, meet August!



Everyone in August’s family has a green thumb. From her grandparents’ multi-acre flower, tree, and vegetable garden in Oklahoma to her mom’s New Mexico gardens boasting an impressive array of cacti, cultivating growth definitely runs in the family. Having been in the military for ten years, August was never in one place long enough to start a garden of her own. When she finally settled down in the Black Hills, she immediately started to put down roots, literally. 
 

“If I have a choice between being outside or inside, I’ll always choose to be outside,” August shared. “When I moved to South Dakota, the house we bought had a small garden plot where I was finally able to get my hands dirty again.”

August’s first adult garden started with one or two tomato plants and some herbs. While getting back into it was fun, anyone from western South Dakota can attest that gardening here it isn’t the easiest. Between weather, critters, and the short growing season, August's introduction to gardening in the region was frustrating. That’s when she decided to keep it simple. After researching native plants and discovering pollinator gardens, one spring she just dumped a bunch of seeds in the ground and hoped for the best. To her surprise, everything sprang to life!

By taking away the stress of a curated space, August reconnected with the joy of seeing beautiful little flowers and the butterflies and bees they attracted. It was also a win for a self-proclaimed lazy gardener. But when it came time for her next home, a property with space for a large garden went straight to the top of the priority list.
 

“When we were house hunting, we saw this property with a garden in place. It was extremely overgrown, but the bones and structure were in place,” explained August. “This was my first big planting year in the new space. It’s become my full-time hobby.”

She got a head start from the old owner, who planted grape trees over 30 years ago, along with cut flowers, roses, rhubarb, and garlic. August’s garden now consists of eight beds filled with herbs, berries, several types of greens, a mix of native pollinators, and all manner of other fruits and veg. This year is the first time she’s planted from seeds she did in the fall. Anyone who has gardened knows not everything works out, which is exactly why August approaches gardening with a sense of fun and curiosity.
 

“I’ve always been good at growing things, but growing in this region was, and still is, an ongoing lesson. I’ve killed a lot of plants through trial and error – you just have to be okay with things not going as planned,” August told us.

From planting a gourd that ended up taking half the yard at 30 feet long and accidentally growing ten butternut squash that were bigger than her dog to incorrectly harvesting her first crop of garlic and having to toss it, August’s gardening missteps double as solid learning experiences and hilarious battle stories. We hear that she once waged a four-year-long mint war. If you take one thing away from this spotlight, it is to never EVER plant mint in the ground.

Planning a garden can be overwhelming, but for August, it’s all about choosing things she likes to eat and that she knows her friends and neighbors will like. The key is to rotate the boxes each year to help aid soil nutrition. August’s rule of thumb: if it goes together, it grows together. And her love for flowers, along with the benefit of attracting pollinators to the area, means always allocating lots of space for blooms. August's furry friends also have a say in garden planning. Their established trails through the area are left untouched so nothing is accidentally trampled.

To August, gardening has never been a chore no matter how much work it takes. As an adult, her garden is her safe space to decompress and relax. For someone who can’t sit still, pulling weeds while listening to an audiobook is her therapy. And the physical fatigue it brings to someone who can be quite restless is an added benefit.
 

“Sitting with my friends and loved ones in this beautiful green space I created and nurtured is hands down my favorite thing about gardening. There is something healing about being outside in a beautiful green space,” August shared with a smile.

Whether her passion for gardening has encouraged you to start planning for a garden of your own next year or maybe to find a friend with a beautiful oasis that you can share in, let’s all heed August’s advice to make it an opportunity to get creative, to build and support community, and, for the love of all things holy, do not plant mint in the ground!

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