The new year often starts with a goal to declutter – clearing my home and workspace and how my time is used. This focus also applies to Master Gardener pursuits. Storing records and memories from the previous year helps to celebrate and memorialize accomplishments and set the stage for what the new year will bring. Thinking deeply about what can be accomplished in the near future does the same.

Cleaning tasks also apply to personal and professional learning. Now that the celebration of the Master Gardener Program 50th Anniversary is successfully complete, an important goal for this year is deepening my own MG knowledge. I am excited about attending the Whidbey Gardening Workshop, participating in Spokane’s Cabin Fever offerings, and scheduling best practice visits with foundations across the state. Learning from colleagues in other counties is so rewarding and informative! Added to the personal learning list are two important tools sponsored by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State: the Seeds for Thought quarterly publication and our still somewhat new Evergreen Thumb podcast. What a great way to learn and stay connected with what is going on in the horticulture field.

In this fast-changing world, learning isn’t always easy. Being able to differentiate between solid, research-based information and personal or influenced opinion is difficult work. Change in general influences what and how we learn as well. Mike Peronto, a Pierce County MG, fed my curiosity by suggesting that a framework of climate change influences almost everything master gardeners do – from landscape design to gardening techniques and all topics in between. This organizing technique will serve as a personal guide for me throughout the year ahead.

Winter is a great planning time, so picture this writer with books, computer, pen, and paper, working to renew science-based horticultural practices to share with others. And I smile as I picture many of you pursuing the same goal.

Warmest wishes for a new year full of potential!