Operation: Inspiration - Checking In

I'm getting a little lax with my postings this summer. I'm lax with many things lately, a phenomenon that I find happens when it's over 105 degrees for very many days in a row. Right about now, I'm really hoping that the climate isn't shifting in this direction, and that these incredibly hot summer temperatures aren't a vicious new normal. It will be interesting to see what's in store for us this winter, because in the last two years we have had both the wettest and driest winters on record in Oklahoma.

In the meantime, I'm going to revisit my goal of getting inspired this summer. It's hardly a measurable goal, which leaves me some room for subjectivity on the matter, in which case I am going to call it a success. Interestingly, the location for my greatest inspiration on where I want to take this project was not only California, but right here in Oklahoma, and also Minnesota.

California was beautiful, of course, with its flowers and beaches and perfect 85-degree days. We had such a great time, reconnected with our daughters, and saw what wonderful things can be done when open minds allow creativity to flow. I love places where imagination is embedded into a culture, as it seems to be on the West Coast (not to mention Disneyland, which is like imagination on steroids). 

Back home, we put our own creativity to use as we harvested hundreds of pounds of tomatoes and quickly realized that we needed to find ways to use them, fast. We entered the SalsaFest, held an heirloom tomato-tasting event at the OSU Extension offices in Tulsa, had adventures in canning with my dad and received some exciting media attention for donating 200 lbs. of tomatoes to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

Also this summer, the very exciting Tulsa Health Department initiative, Pathways to Health kicked off. Not only is it my first real Board service, but I truly believe this collective impact program has the potential to make a real difference in addressing Oklahoma's health issues. I am so proud of my cousin Lynnsey, who is spearheading this effort. I will post regularly about it on this blog, and you can follow it on Twitter (@TulsaP2H).

So my takeaway from the activities this summer is the power of passion and common goals. I'm finding such a powerful movement of people who refuse to settle for poor health options, not just for themselves and their families, but for their communities as well. At the P2H event, a 20-something young woman proudly declared herself "a total public health nut." Don't tell me this country is doomed and that the government is going to destroy us all. This City-County Health Department employee shows me otherwise.

Which, finally, brings me to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I tagged along to a meeting of our Garden Center Performance Group. This group of garden center owners and managers meets three times a year to discuss their performances (as the name of the group probably indicates, but it seemed to need more explanation). On the first day, we took a tour of area garden centers, which included Tangletown/Wise Acres, which is doing pretty much what we want to be doing with the market, running a very successful CSA and restaurant. Plus, the group had some amazing discussions about where the garden center industry is going, and it is very much in the direction of local foods and farming.

All in all, I feel like we're on our game with this project. Now that everybody is back from vacations, and school starts back up in a couple of weeks, we are launching into our Strategic Planning season. We will be starting to sit down with designers soon! So excited!

The tomatoes right we took to the OSU Extension for tasting.

The Food Bank donation: 200 lbs. of heirloom tomatoes went to Iron Gate Soup Kitchen.
They sent out a quick press release the day before, and four TV stations showed up!