[00:00:00] Deanna Kitchen: I thought that was so cool that you did that. I wanna be able to do that, too.
[00:00:03] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Ugh, isn't it lovely the way that-
[00:00:06] Deanna Kitchen: It just organically grows itself.
[00:00:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:00:09] Deanna Kitchen: The act of putting flowers into the hands of other people hit something in my soul- Mm-hmm ... that I'm like, "Okay, part of me is meant to do this." It grew every year as I grew more and, you know, would put out little free flower stands throughout the season, because as we know, you need to cut your dahlias on a regular basis so you get more and more blooms as you go.
[00:00:32] Deanna Kitchen: Mm-hmm. And then it was like, "Okay, well, what else can I grow to go with these dahlias?" And- Mm-hmm ... you know, not only for myself, but to give these little bouquets away, and it's like, "Okay, let's see what else we can do."
[00:00:48] Deanna Kitchen: Hey, friend. Welcome to the Growing Kindness Podcast. I'm your host, Deanna Kitchen, founder of the Growing Kindness Movement. This is a place where we grow together, learning to root our lives in kindness, connection, and community. If you've ever wished the world felt a little softer, a little more neighborly, or if you're craving stories that remind you that goodness still grows, you're in the right place.
[00:01:09] Deanna Kitchen: Together with our guests, we'll share stories of generosity and community, proof that even the smallest acts of kindness, from growing and giving cut flowers to everyday acts of care, can change lives and connect us in powerful ways. I'm so glad you're here. Let's get started.
[00:01:33] Alicia Myers Leifheit: This season is made possible by Heirloom Roses, our season two sponsor. We're deeply grateful for their generosity that helps carry the Growing Kindness mission forward and makes these stories possible Welcome back to the podcast. I am so glad you're here with us today. Today's episode is really special.
[00:01:50] Alicia Myers Leifheit: For the first time ever, I'm actually getting to record live in the studio with our guest, which is so fun. We have the privilege to be able to reach across time zones and geographic boundaries to be able to normally bring this podcast to you, because we're able to record virtually. But today, I get to be joined in person in the studio with none other than one of our lovely Washington State Growing Kindness ambassadors, and I'm so excited to welcome her here today.
[00:02:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: So I'm gonna let her introduce herself. So will you tell us just a little bit more about who you are and where you're growing kindness?
[00:02:27] Deanna Kitchen: I am Alicia Myers-Leifite, and I have Dragonfly Blooms, which is an urban flower farm in Everett, Washington, and I became a Growing Kindness Ambassador in 2025. And, yeah.
[00:02:42] Alicia Myers Leifheit: That's who we get to chat with today. Yes. Love it. All right. Alicia, your story with flowers, it's, you know, started long before you came to Growing Kindness, so can you kinda start at the beginning of that story? Like, when did flowers come to you, or when did you come to flowers?
[00:02:56] Deanna Kitchen: Flowers came to me early, early.
[00:03:00] Deanna Kitchen: I have probably been gardening in one shape or form as long as I could walk.
[00:03:05] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm.
[00:03:05] Deanna Kitchen: I grew up with my grandparents, and m- my grandpa and I had a routine where every Saturday morning, we would go out to breakfast, just the two of us. As soon as growing his season hit, the next stop after breakfast was always the garden center.
[00:03:24] Deanna Kitchen: Grandpa was the one who always planted all the flowers, did, managed the garden. Grandma always had the vision and took credit for it, because she was the garden clubber- club member.
[00:03:36] Alicia Myers Leifheit: But he made it
[00:03:37] Deanna Kitchen: happen. But he made it... He made all of the ideas happen, at least while I was in the picture. But yeah, every year, I mean, it's like he planted, you know, very traditional things.
[00:03:49] Deanna Kitchen: Um, there were lots of impatiens. There were lots of marigolds. There were lots of geraniums. But then there were also great perennials in the garden, and this was southern Ohio, so they're different than what we have here.
[00:04:01] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:04:02] Deanna Kitchen: But I... Probably the most memorable thing in my grandparents' garden, because I had never seen anything like it again until I came to Washington State, was that she had a tree peony.
[00:04:14] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Okay.
[00:04:15] Deanna Kitchen: And no one else had one that I had ever seen. Was she
[00:04:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: like the, was she like the talk of the garden club? She was,
[00:04:21] Deanna Kitchen: and I mean, it, I mean, and it was gorgeous. I mean, and it was nothing like the ones you see out here, because obviously the winters are much harsher there.
[00:04:29] Deanna Kitchen: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:29] Deanna Kitchen: But no, that's where it all started, from working with my Grandpa Stu all the way through high school, and then once I went off to college and got married, as soon as we had- Our first apartment, I had planters on the porch.
[00:04:44] Deanna Kitchen: As soon as we had our first house, I put in way too many gardens year one, but, you
[00:04:50] Alicia Myers Leifheit: know- I think that's so... Don't you feel like everybody does that?
[00:04:52] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:04:52] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I mean, almost always, unless you literally are so limited by space, I feel like all of us go way overboard. Overboard. Like, we are... It's like when, I don't know, your eyes...
[00:05:02] Alicia Myers Leifheit: What do we tell our kids when they're like, they're dishing up their plate? We're like, "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach." Bigger
[00:05:06] Deanna Kitchen: than your
[00:05:06] Alicia Myers Leifheit: belly. Yeah. Like, our visions for our flower gardens are s- far bigger than our, like, time and capacity to manage them.
[00:05:12] Deanna Kitchen: Always. But
[00:05:13] Alicia Myers Leifheit: we don't know that yet at the beginning.
[00:05:15] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And quite honestly, if I'm being-
[00:05:17] Deanna Kitchen: Always though ...
[00:05:17] Alicia Myers Leifheit: honest with myself. Right? Like, do we actually ever really learn? No. No. I think that's just the hope and the optimism of gardening, though, is you're always like, every year like, "No, we'll be able to handle this much this year." But what a beautiful story to see how he inspired that and planted those seeds in you so little.
[00:05:35] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:05:35] Alicia Myers Leifheit: So from the time you can remember.
[00:05:37] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. No.
[00:05:37] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And that the fact that you continued that through high school is really unique, 'cause I feel like so often, you know, when kids are on their journeys of becoming who they are, sometimes they go through those seasons where the things that were anchor points when they were little or were hobby points when they were younger kind of get left behind, but it wasn't for you.
[00:05:56] Alicia Myers Leifheit: You held onto it all the way through.
[00:05:57] Deanna Kitchen: No, no. I mean, and you know, my mom and I lived with my grandparents until I was 13, and then once Mom and I moved out on our own and had our own house, then we had our own gardens, and I did a lot of the work in those gardens as well. Mm-hmm. I picked out a lot of the plants, did a lot of the planning, but there was always something special about going back and working with Grandpa, 'cause it was always something we just did.
[00:06:21] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Within the love of gardening, what do you think, what, like, appealed to you the most about it then? Like, what did you find in it as a young girl and then as a teenager, uh, in your experience? You
[00:06:31] Deanna Kitchen: know, I think I have always wa- been one that's had, like, a love of minutiae.
[00:06:37] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm.
[00:06:38] Deanna Kitchen: You know, like, even to this day, I do macro garden photography.
[00:06:41] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:42] Deanna Kitchen: But it's seeing the things that no one else sees or notices.
[00:06:49] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm.
[00:06:51] Deanna Kitchen: And somehow that's very grounding to me
[00:06:53] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm
[00:06:54] Deanna Kitchen: To find the ladybug, to investigate, to learn why. Why is this doing this? How can I do this better?
[00:07:02] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:02] Deanna Kitchen: It's always been that sort of innate sense of curiosity.
[00:07:05] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. So that was cultivated in the garden for you?
[00:07:08] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:07:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Once you launched on your own and started growing your own gardens, did gardening change for you, or is it that, still that same anchor point and, like, opportunity to explore and learn? Or did it become something different?
[00:07:23] Deanna Kitchen: It expanded, because once I became an adult, and especially once I was significantly in the corporate world, that's when the garden started to become sort of the retreat.
[00:07:40] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:41] Deanna Kitchen: And the point of, okay, this is where I can go and- Would truly be present in the moment Mm-hmm And allow the rest of the noise in
[00:07:51] Alicia Myers Leifheit: the world-
[00:07:55] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:07:55] Deanna Kitchen: to shut off. I'm one of these weird people that actually doesn't mind weeding. Oh, I
[00:08:01] Alicia Myers Leifheit: don't th- you're not alone in that. If there's a weirdo club for it, I'm, I'm here for it. I feel like it's the most, it's just therapeutic.
[00:08:07] Deanna Kitchen: It's therapeutic.
[00:08:08] Alicia Myers Leifheit: It is. It- Like, it's instant gratification 'cause you're watching this, like, transformation happen before your eyes, sometimes a little slower than you'd like, but, you know, you get to watch, and it doesn't require a lot of thought.
[00:08:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: It almost is like this just mindful flow that you can get in with weeding that does somehow feel different to me too than other aspects of gardening. I don't know. I know people the same, that like they passionately hate weeding, but to me, I mean, you gotta do it, and then when you can... I guess it's if you can do it when it's younger and not, like, completely overwhelming and overtaking your life and your garden.
[00:08:42] Alicia Myers Leifheit: But same, I agree with you.
[00:08:45] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, and with that, I think the more stressful life became, the more I wanted to add to the garden.
[00:08:53] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm.
[00:08:54] Deanna Kitchen: And I think part of that was sort of a unknowing at the time way of self-care-
[00:09:01] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:09:02] Deanna Kitchen: because I knew it would allow me to shut off.
[00:09:04] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I love that. I think that so many of us find that place of rest and quiet and healing in the garden, and like, they're just, they're spaces that invite us into that.
[00:09:19] Alicia Myers Leifheit: But like you said, it's almost like we don't even necessarily know it and name it. We just know that it's fulfilling that need in our hearts that we're not finding in the hustle and bustle of all the other parts of what's going on in our life. But yeah, that is just, it's just such a picture, I think, of everybody's gardening experience.
[00:09:40] Alicia Myers Leifheit: At some point, they find that in the garden. So what I'm curious about is how those seeds planted from the time you were little and knowing that the garden was a place where you felt most yourself, the garden was a place where you could be curious, where you could rest, where you could find quiet, at what point did you find yourself sharing the flowers that you grew in your garden?
[00:10:04] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Like, when did that become a part of your journey?
[00:10:06] Deanna Kitchen: Growing to Give really almost happened by accident the first time, and I had had a girlfriend who wasn't much of a traditional gardener because I had always been, you know, I had always done lots of annuals. I had always done lots of perennials. 10 years ago, I had never grown a cut-in flower.
[00:10:26] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:27] Deanna Kitchen: From there, she got me started on dahlias.
[00:10:31] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah, it's always, it's like the gateway drug. And- It's either that or sweet peas ...
[00:10:35] Deanna Kitchen: yeah, and it, and it, it went really poorly the first round because here in the Pacific Northwest, everyone always says, "Oh, just leave them in the ground. They're gonna be fine."
[00:10:44] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:45] Deanna Kitchen: Well, I had had beds that I had specifically soil developed for water retention for vegetables and those type of things. I left them all in, all in the ground. Oh,
[00:10:55] Alicia Myers Leifheit: yeah.
[00:10:55] Deanna Kitchen: And I lost 100% of my dahlias the first year.
[00:10:57] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:10:58] Deanna Kitchen: And then I, from there, I sort of went, "Nope, it's too much work. I'm not gonna do it."
[00:11:02] Deanna Kitchen: And then we came back, and she talked me into trying them a second go-around, and I had six or seven plants, but they were, they weren't single tubers. She had given me, you know, like, quarter clumps.
[00:11:14] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:11:15] Deanna Kitchen: And w- it was time to pull, and we had more flowers than we knew what to do with that were still on. But she's like, "No, we're pulling them now.
[00:11:23] Deanna Kitchen: I'm not gonna be dividing in the rain. I'm not gonna do it. We're pulling them by October 15th at the latest." But I'm like, "They're all still in flower. What are we doing with all these flowers?" And at that point, I only had five or six, but she had 70 or
[00:11:37] Alicia Myers Leifheit: 80. Mm-hmm.
[00:11:38] Deanna Kitchen: And I'm... And she's like, "Well, we're just gonna compost them."
[00:11:41] Deanna Kitchen: I'm like, "We are not composting these flowers." I was not going to let those flowers go in the compost, so I'm like, "Okay, what are we going to do?" I just decided, I've been an active part of a Buy Nothing community locally here- Mm-hmm ... for a lot of years. And I'm like, "Okay, I'm just gonna make little bouquets.
[00:11:59] Deanna Kitchen: I'm gonna rubber band them." And I'm like, "I don't have containers." I had no plan before, like, the day this actually happened. So I took a, um, you know, like, a storage tote, long rectangular one, taped it all into squares so they could hold the individual bouquets. Oh,
[00:12:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: that's a great idea.
[00:12:19] Deanna Kitchen: Rubber banded them, filled the thing with water, and put it out to my Buy Nothing community and said, "Free flowers.
[00:12:25] Deanna Kitchen: Come and get them." And I had so many people that day, they were all gone within like four hours. Mm-hmm. And we probably had 75 bouquets.
[00:12:35] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Oh my goodness.
[00:12:36] Deanna Kitchen: And they were all gone within like four hours, as soon as I put it out. And everyone was like, "I can't believe you're just giving these flowers away." And you know, there were so many stories that immediately came back, "I was having the worst day, and you completely changed my state.
[00:12:49] Deanna Kitchen: Thank you so much." Mm-hmm. And you know, it's like there were so many stories that started coming, you know, and it just sort of started the wheels turning even then. Mm-hmm. And from there, then the next spring, it's like, okay, I've only got five or six plants, but as we know with dahlias, five or six plants-
[00:13:07] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm
[00:13:07] Deanna Kitchen: you know, okay, I've got 45 tubers. I do not need 45 tubers-
[00:13:12] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:13:12] Deanna Kitchen: of these same varieties. Mm-hmm. I wanna go, I wanna go to the society sale, and I want some new varieties. What am I gonna do with these tubers? And I'm like, "Well, I'll just put them out on Buy Nothing, and I'll give them away." That actually started what became a much bigger thing since then.
[00:13:26] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:27] Deanna Kitchen: But I gave those tubers away the first year, and a lot of those same people that I had given flowers to were the ones that came and got them, because they said, "I thought that was so cool that you did that. I wanna be able to do that too."
[00:13:40] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Ah, isn't it lovely the way that-
[00:13:42] Deanna Kitchen: It just organically grows itself.
[00:13:45] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:46] Deanna Kitchen: And the act of putting flowers into the hands of other people hit something in my soul- Mm ... that I'm like Okay, part of me is meant to do this
[00:13:58] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm
[00:14:00] Deanna Kitchen: And it grew every year as I grew more, and, you know, would put out little free flower stands throughout the season, because as we know, you need to cut your dahlias on a regular basis so you get more and more blooms as you go.
[00:14:15] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:16] Deanna Kitchen: And then it was like, "Okay, well, what else can I grow to go with these dahlias?" And-
[00:14:22] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:14:22] Deanna Kitchen: you know, not only for myself, but to give these little bouquets away, and it's like, "Okay, let's see what else we can do." And it grew organically from that, and I got to the point three years ago, and, you know, I was growing 75, 80 plants myself-
[00:14:41] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm
[00:14:42] Deanna Kitchen: and giving away lots of free flowers- Mm ... left and right. And about that, I had known about you guys, and I'm like, "I think this is something I'm really called to do on a greater level." I had been working the mission all along without like- Yeah, totally ... officially being a member.
[00:15:01] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I think that happens so often, right?
[00:15:03] Deanna Kitchen: And then I found Growing Kindness and this incredible group of people through the greenhouse-
[00:15:10] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:15:11] Deanna Kitchen: community, and it was like, "Wow, okay. I can make this into something bigger than what I'm doing now, and we can even serve more people."
[00:15:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:15:21] Deanna Kitchen: Some of my dahlia mentors that I had met through the Snohomish County Dahlia Society were doing farm tours, and I was out there and at one of their farms, and they said, "Well-
[00:15:33] Deanna Kitchen: when are you actually going to join us and, like, officially be a grower, which, like, sell?" Mm-hmm. And that, like, hadn't even come through my mind.
[00:15:42] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:15:43] Deanna Kitchen: And I was like, "Okay. Oh." And then it just like, it was this moment, and it clicked, and it's like I was in a business at this point, and I'm like, "If I was a business, I could afford to give even more."
[00:15:57] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. I think it's such a beautiful-
[00:15:59] Deanna Kitchen: And that was the whole- Yeah ... premise on how and why I did the-
[00:16:03] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah ...
[00:16:03] Deanna Kitchen: created Dragonfly Blooms-
[00:16:05] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah ...
[00:16:05] Deanna Kitchen: was to be able to sustain giving even more.
[00:16:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah. And I think that there's so many different beautiful and sustainable and joyful models and ways that people do this. I think that, you know, there's people that grow, and it's their hobby, and that's it.
[00:16:21] Alicia Myers Leifheit: You know? It's at that scale that it works for them, and it keeps it joyful. And I think there's businesses that are, you know, growing sustainable, profitable businesses that incorporate a giving component that's sustainable and that allows them to reach out in their community in beautiful, beautiful ways.
[00:16:40] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And then there's like this. There's this opportunity of, like, maybe, you know, your giving ends up eventually growing into a flower business. But I'd love to hear more about how those two work together for you now, now that that's the model that you're sustaining. Can you share more about that?
[00:16:56] Deanna Kitchen: It's evolving.
[00:16:57] Deanna Kitchen: Um- Uh,
[00:16:57] Alicia Myers Leifheit: as, as any, any growing thing is, right?
[00:17:00] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. But last year it allowed- You know, by having the business, and this is the second year, 2026 is the second year that I've actually done tuber sales. So by deciding to sell tubers, it has allowed me to up my production-
[00:17:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:17:19] Deanna Kitchen: and the numbers that I grow.
[00:17:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:21] Deanna Kitchen: And by happenstance, or I guess by planning, it then allows me to have more flowers to give-
[00:17:28] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:17:28] Deanna Kitchen: during the season.
[00:17:29] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:30] Deanna Kitchen: I've got a roadside stand in my neighborhood, but really I'm not out there looking to sell to florists doing those other things, because my goal is to have the flowers to put out into the community.
[00:17:41] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm.
[00:17:42] Deanna Kitchen: And last year I did two events with our local food bank-
[00:17:47] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Amazing ...
[00:17:47] Deanna Kitchen: um, specifically geared on their senior pickup days, because as you always talk about- Mm ... they're often the people that are the most forgotten.
[00:17:56] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:57] Deanna Kitchen: And those were incredible experiences.
[00:18:00] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm. Can you tell us more about how that worked for you in setting that up and structuring it, and like what those events look like?
[00:18:07] Deanna Kitchen: It doesn't have to be fancy.
[00:18:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:10] Deanna Kitchen: I mean, and that's like the number one thing. When I went into the food bank give, the first one, I didn't know if I was gonna have any help or if I was gonna be doing it all myself.
[00:18:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:21] Deanna Kitchen: Um, the senior days, they normally have somewhere between 60 to 75 pickups, um, so that's the number of bouquets we were looking at doing.
[00:18:29] Deanna Kitchen: We-
[00:18:29] Alicia Myers Leifheit: That makes me have a little lump in my throat. It's like no one got forgotten. Yeah. Everybody got one.
[00:18:33] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:18:33] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:18:34] Deanna Kitchen: And actually, th- the day that we happened to be there in September, they had less pickups than normal, so all the volunteers that day got to take them home too. Oh,
[00:18:43] Alicia Myers Leifheit: perfect.
[00:18:43] Deanna Kitchen: Which-
[00:18:44] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah ...
[00:18:44] Deanna Kitchen: is extra special.
[00:18:45] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:18:46] Deanna Kitchen: And then we were at, also there is, um, a preschool at the church that has the food bank, and then we were able to take some in to some of the teachers-
[00:18:54] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Very lovely ...
[00:18:55] Deanna Kitchen: as well. Mm. And then they took me into the classroom, and then had to ex- and had me explain and do like a little elevator speech about why they're getting flowers and what we were doing.
[00:19:06] Deanna Kitchen: Mm-hmm. And that was really special, too. And the kids are like, "You just give people flowers?" And I'm like, "Yes, I do." And they're like, "That's cool."
[00:19:13] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:13] Deanna Kitchen: So it's like planting those seeds early, too.
[00:19:16] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:19:16] Deanna Kitchen: Which I love. But really, those bouquets were very simple, and especially with that type of audience, with being seniors, we didn't want anything breakable.
[00:19:27] Deanna Kitchen: We just did soup can arrangements.
[00:19:29] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:19:29] Deanna Kitchen: And they had three dahlias in them and some filler flower, and then the bouquet tags. And it turned out to be myself and one of our other ambassadors, Lisa, and we put all of those together. The soup cans came-- I put out a message in my Buy Nothing community, and I- There
[00:19:47] Alicia Myers Leifheit: you go.
[00:19:48] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Like- Man, Buy Nothing's been like a really good spot for you to build connections in your community. Which I think is a great reminder to us all that so many of us have these free and accessible resources online, you know, with these online
[00:20:00] Deanna Kitchen: community spaces. Well, yeah. And it's like, "Hey, this is what I'm looking to do."
[00:20:03] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. "
[00:20:04] Deanna Kitchen: Can you collect cans for me for the next month and let me know when you've got them ready and I'll pick up?" And, um Now I just have... I did that, and then we did a Christmas give with the same group, and now I just have bags of cans randomly show up on my porch.
[00:20:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I love it. So you're g- gonna have a stockpile ready for your next big give.
[00:20:24] Deanna Kitchen: I probably have 250 if not 300 soup
[00:20:27] Alicia Myers Leifheit: cans in my garage right now. That's amazing. Okay. So that actually is really helpful for me to consider, 'cause I know sometimes that can be a really limiting, a factor in figuring out how to do. Like, sometimes people have a ton of flowers, but not a ton of vessels to be able to give them in.
[00:20:41] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Um, so to reach out to your Buy Nothing community and just say, "Drop them off on my front porch," or-
[00:20:45] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah ...
[00:20:46] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I have seen people do that with a similar kind of outreach to, say, making a connection with a local business. Like, if you, if you maybe aren't, don't feel safe having people, like, have your address or whatever, to be able to say, like, "Hey, local coffee shop, will you be the...
[00:21:00] Alicia Myers Leifheit: You know, will you do a can drive for me, and let me have a box in the front?" Or whatever it might be to be able to collect them that way. So that's so cool. Yeah. So what was... I mean, uh, did you hear back from any of the recipients of the flowers? 'Cause I, sometimes I feel like as soon as we send our flowers out into the world, and you don't know exactly where they went or how they were received, you just know that feeling in your heart, you know, that- Mm-hmm
[00:21:24] Alicia Myers Leifheit: that just joy of giving so freely, but sometimes we do hear back. Did you have that in that experience?
[00:21:29] Deanna Kitchen: Well, I actually, the food bank welcomed me in. Um, and I actually got to give flowers out in person-
[00:21:36] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Oh, okay ... for both events. So this wasn't, like, they weren't going out, like, on a Meals on Wheels type situation.
[00:21:41] Deanna Kitchen: No, no. You got to do face-to-face with the- This was actually face-to-face with the recipients.
[00:21:44] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Wow. So- So how was that experience?
[00:21:46] Deanna Kitchen: It was phenomenal. Mm. And like so many of the stories, and for people that have been listening to your podcast, you know, and l- part of the community, they know, especially our elders have stories, and they have those connections of sweet peas and dahlias more than anything it seems.
[00:22:02] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. But of so many of these people were like, "Oh, I remember when I could have a garden, and I haven't had flowers in years." Mm. "This is so special."
[00:22:12] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:13] Deanna Kitchen: What became even more special is when we went back to the same group at Christmas, and they knew exactly who I was.
[00:22:21] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Ugh, I love that.
[00:22:23] Deanna Kitchen: And they remembered, like, before they ever came in, you know, the flowers were inside and I had run out to the car for something, and there was somebody that I had given flowers to the first time, and I recognized them, and they're like, "You're the flower lady.
[00:22:37] Deanna Kitchen: Do we get flowers today?"
[00:22:39] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm.
[00:22:40] Deanna Kitchen: You know? So it's, it's special.
[00:22:42] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:42] Deanna Kitchen: And it's soul-filling. Mm-hmm. And it's like giving to others, especially that are down on their luck and may need a little extra hope or just- Mm ... a, that little bit of kindness.
[00:22:54] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:55] Deanna Kitchen: There was one gal there last September, and she pulled me aside and she said, "Do you have a minute?"
[00:23:02] Deanna Kitchen: And I'm like, "Sure." You know, because- It was just one of those moments where it's like, "Okay, universe, you're speaking to me. She needs somebody to just take a minute."
[00:23:12] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:13] Deanna Kitchen: And she's like, "We found out last night that we were gonna lose our house."
[00:23:19] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Ugh. Mm. "
[00:23:21] Deanna Kitchen: And I came here this morning to get food because we couldn't afford any.
[00:23:26] Deanna Kitchen: And I really, like, I had no hope that anything was going right." And she's like, "I can't explain it, but somehow getting this little bouquet has made me feel like there is goodness in the world still, and maybe it's okay to keep going."
[00:23:45] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Oh, gosh. Like, I have, I have goosebumps and now tears in my eyes because it-
[00:23:50] Deanna Kitchen: And it, it's what it's about
[00:23:52] Alicia Myers Leifheit: it is so much more- It's what
[00:23:53] Deanna Kitchen: it's about ...
[00:23:54] Alicia Myers Leifheit: and we have no idea. I mean, I think in, obviously in, in a, in an environment or c- you know, community space like a food bank, obviously we do have some idea. You know, we do know that people are there because things have been hard. But we don't know how hard, and we don't know what ways they've been hard.
[00:24:12] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Just to shop and care, like we don't, like it's ... We have no idea how it's gonna impact somebody. Well, one part of your story that I have loved getting to witness and unfold are the connections that you have made in your community- ... through this very simple ... You know what? I think it's, it's so beautiful when you think of those, like, one little pebble drops and the ripples that go out from them.
[00:24:35] Alicia Myers Leifheit: So you have reached out in generosity through your Buy Nothing community.
[00:24:39] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:24:39] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And it has unfolded in some really beautiful ways. And if, you know, if our listener today has listened to previous podcasts, you may have even been making the connections and the dots between Miss Al- ... and the, um, darling young ladies who were on the podcast here just recently sharing their story.
[00:25:00] Alicia Myers Leifheit: But I would love to hear from your, you know, your experience, how that connection unfolded and what it's brought into your life.
[00:25:10] Deanna Kitchen: Oh, these darling girls. The Hernandez family was a connection that I made through my local Buy Nothing group. And the first time I met them was shortly after they had moved up from Texas, and I was offering dahlia tubers that spring, and Michelle, the girls' mom, came and got some.
[00:25:32] Deanna Kitchen: And th- I have always made it a point that I don't just give tubers. I am here to help people learn to grow-
[00:25:41] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:25:42] Deanna Kitchen: and succeed with- Mm-hmm ... their plants. And no matter how, it's like m- that's another part that fills my soul for me, is helping people learn and understand-
[00:25:55] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Which is so full circle. Yeah. You know, as you shared your story about being the learner in the garden, and like that curiosity, like what a full circle moment-
[00:26:01] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah
[00:26:02] Alicia Myers Leifheit: to be able to then share that.
[00:26:03] Deanna Kitchen: So it started with Michelle asking questions and talking and getting to know not only her, but her family, and developing a friendship through that. And then this last winter when I had put a call out to my Buy Nothing community, one, for cans, two, for additional greenery-
[00:26:27] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm
[00:26:28] Deanna Kitchen: um, for the holiday program.
[00:26:29] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:30] Deanna Kitchen: Um, because I was able to get tons of wonderful things from our local tree lot, but I didn't have cedar, and I really wanted cedar-
[00:26:37] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:26:38] Deanna Kitchen: because of the wonderful flowy aspect. So I had put that out and I said, "And if anyone would like to come learn and design, we're gonna be doing this from, you know, put a couple dates out there."
[00:26:50] Deanna Kitchen: And Michelle reached out and said, "Well, I wanna come help you, but can I bring the girls?"
[00:26:56] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:57] Deanna Kitchen: And I'm like- Yeah. You know, at that point I had met her girls Mm-hmm ... I knew they were responsible, I knew they weren't gonna chop their fingers off. Yeah. Right.
[00:27:05] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Right. You know? Sometimes it can be dynamic with
[00:27:06] Deanna Kitchen: a group of kids.
[00:27:07] Deanna Kitchen: Um, but those girls are the absolute sweetest, and Seraphine, her oldest, Michelle reached out and said she's decided she wants to crochet flowers to put in every bouquet you're doing. Is that okay? And I'm like, "It's fine, but it's a lot of bouquets, Michelle."
[00:27:28] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. What, how many were we talking at this point?
[00:27:30] Deanna Kitchen: 80. Oh my goodness. Okay. We were talking 80 for the holiday give. And she's like, "Okay, let me check in with her." And she's like, "Well, she's got 20 done, but she..." A- and this was like two days before they were coming over to design. Yeah. And she says she's gonna get them done.
[00:27:47] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Oh my goodness. I guess I didn't fully grasp that part of her story.
[00:27:51] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I mean, I knew it was a lot, but I didn't know she did them on such a tight timeline too.
[00:27:55] Deanna Kitchen: She did 60, and they weren't real big. Sure. They were maybe like two-inch little crocheted flowers. Sure. Absolutely adorable. And not only did they do that, then they wired them-
[00:28:06] Alicia Myers Leifheit: So
[00:28:06] Deanna Kitchen: they could be put in the bouquets.
[00:28:06] Deanna Kitchen: Mm-hmm ... so they could be put in the bouquets. And they got them all done, and then they came and, um, Michelle and her girls, I had some other volunteers as well, and it just sort of organically grows. Mm-hmm. And I find that people want... If you put out there what you're doing and share it, people are like, "Oh, yeah, let's do that."
[00:28:26] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I think that- And they
[00:28:28] Deanna Kitchen: want to help.
[00:28:29] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Totally. I, I could not agree with you more. I have found... It's funny 'cause I'm discovering this- Both with the gardening aspect and giving flowers, but really I think it's so real to every part of our lives is when we have s- can ask specifically for help, it opens all these doors and opportunities.
[00:28:48] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Like, people, we want to connect. We're wired to connect, and I think we're wired to help each other. And so, but sometimes we get so overwhelmed, like I, we don't know where to start, or you don't know how to show up for other people, or how to give. But when there's somebody that makes a specific ask, like, "Can you share cedar from your garden?
[00:29:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Can you give me soup cans? Will you come and help holi- you know, arrange holiday, um, holiday chair bouquets, you know, on these dates?" Sometimes the more specific we get with the help that we need, the more freeing it is for people, because then they don't feel like they have to, you know, show up with a bunch of resources or know what to do, but just they get to be a part.
[00:29:31] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And it's just like when you invite, someone invites you over for dinner, right? Uh, y- you know, you get to the, their house, and you're happy to help. Like, you, there's something connecting and joyful about like, I can set the table or I can chop the lettuce or, you know, whatever. And so when someone gives, invites you into a task that's specific, it's a really joyful way to build community, which obviously you did, because since then the Hernandez family has been closely connected with you, and you guys have done many things together, right?
[00:29:58] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. Those sweet, sweet girls, they cannot wait to do, for like flowers to be in full tilt and go. And Michelle and I had a conversation the other day that was all about, okay, learning what they have that they can use.
[00:30:15] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:30:15] Deanna Kitchen: And I think that's sort of the surprising part that so many people don't realize, that it doesn't, it doesn't have to be big.
[00:30:23] Deanna Kitchen: It doesn't have to be fancy to make an impact.
[00:30:26] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:30:26] Deanna Kitchen: You don't have to grow dahlias, although dahlias are really fun to grow.
[00:30:30] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I love it.
[00:30:31] Deanna Kitchen: But you know, you just start looking at what you have. Hosta leaves work beautifully in bouquets.
[00:30:39] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:30:40] Deanna Kitchen: You know, do you have a shrub that you can trim? You know, do you have an evergreen tree that you can cut off of to make these little- Or an herb
[00:30:48] Alicia Myers Leifheit: garden.
[00:30:48] Deanna Kitchen: Or an herb garden. Or-
[00:30:50] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And all of these little- ... things growing in the ditch beside your house.
[00:30:53] Deanna Kitchen: I mean, there's so many things there and, you know, Michelle and I just had a conversation and it was like, okay- I'm like, "I'm just thinking around your house, and you can use this, this, this, this, and this." 'Cause she, you know, she was like, "Can I, you know, get bouquets from you for this weekend?"
[00:31:07] Deanna Kitchen: And I'm like, "You don't need to. You've got everything you need."
[00:31:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:31:11] Deanna Kitchen: And she's like, "Oh." And I'm like, "Yeah."
[00:31:14] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Sometimes we just need somebody else's eyes to see it for us, though, right?
[00:31:17] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:31:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:31:18] Deanna Kitchen: So, but her girls have really sort of taken off with the crochet side of things, which you talked about in their podcast with them, and, um, they cannot wait to do their next senior home visit because they'll have flowers as well as crochet.
[00:31:34] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:34] Deanna Kitchen: So they're very, very excited. And they, when we did our Tuber Give this year, um, and it was the sixth year we've done a Tuber Give, and it turned out... You know, it was just another one of those organic things, and I put out there that, "Hey," to my fellow growers, "Hey, I'm doing this if anyone has anything they want to donate.
[00:31:54] Deanna Kitchen: This is what we're doing."
[00:31:55] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:31:55] Deanna Kitchen: And this year when we did our Tuber Give, it was actually an event sort of geared off of how, the event you did-
[00:32:03] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:32:03] Deanna Kitchen: in April, and it was amazing because I had four other farms that donated tubers. We put close to 500 tubers out in the world in kindness.
[00:32:14] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. And- What was the response of the people who came?
[00:32:17] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Like, to ca- who came and picked up tubers and who are gonna plant them and now share flowers and kindness. I'm so curious about
[00:32:24] Deanna Kitchen: that. It was a little bit of
[00:32:24] Alicia Myers Leifheit: everything. Yeah.
[00:32:24] Deanna Kitchen: It, there was a lot of shock and awe.
[00:32:27] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:27] Deanna Kitchen: Like, "You're giving these away?"
[00:32:30] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:30] Deanna Kitchen: And I'm like, "Yeah, because the world needs more kindness."
[00:32:33] Deanna Kitchen: Mm-hmm. "The world needs more beauty."
[00:32:35] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:35] Deanna Kitchen: You know? More than ever, between economic times being hard and the world just being- Hard ... hard right now- Yeah ... for so many people. Scary and
[00:32:44] Alicia Myers Leifheit: all the things.
[00:32:45] Deanna Kitchen: You know, it's just like, no, we need that touch of softness.
[00:32:48] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:32:49] Deanna Kitchen: And to encourage people and give people the tools, whether they wouldn't have the money to do it or just have been scared to start or didn't know where to start.
[00:33:01] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah.
[00:33:02] Deanna Kitchen: And to be able to put that out into the world, and then have, you know, like, growing kindness behind sort of everything and purposing behind. Mm-hmm. But having the greenhouse there for people to have, a- ask questions- Mm-hmm ... and have resources and community between, behind people that are growing. But giving people ideas of, you know, "Oh, I had never thought about taking flowers to my first responders-" Mm-hmm
[00:33:33] Deanna Kitchen: or, you know, "I would be scared to go to the nursing home." And sometimes you just have to do it, and it's okay if that first bouquet you just drop off at the front desk of the nursing home- Yeah ... and say, "I'd like your residents to have these this week."
[00:33:46] Alicia Myers Leifheit: But it's just, like, this beautiful... I mean, you're giving them dahlia tubers, but really you're sowing seeds of opportunity for kindness, you know?
[00:33:54] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Like, the flowers are always just the catalyst. It's just the tool that we get to- gather and hold, but really they're just the catalyst for carrying the kindness and connection into the communities. And so what a cool opportunity to get to plant these ideas and inspiration for people and have these conversations about how they could then, yes, you're giving them flowers, but more than that, you're giving...
[00:34:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Or no, you're, you're not giving them flowers, you're giving the opportunity to grow flowers.
[00:34:22] Deanna Kitchen: Right.
[00:34:22] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Which I think in and of itself, you know, you talk about coming back full circle in this conversation, like what the garden was to you. Like think of, I just love the thought of that, is that when we, you know, when we gift flowers, like the, the moment of interaction you had with that woman at the food bank, like it's this opportunity for care and connection and kindness.
[00:34:43] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And then when we gift something like a dahlia tuber or a seed packet or a bulb or whatever, we get to invite someone into the experience of gardening. And you and I both have s- s- both... I, and not just you and I both, I think probably anyone who's ever gardened understands that experience of what a place of...
[00:35:05] Alicia Myers Leifheit: You get to give someone the gift of gardening, and gardening is this gift of care that extends so much farther than the long- the length of the flowers in a vase. Like, they get the, to have the gift of coffee cup in hand in the morning and going out in their garden maybe for the first time ever and noticing the insects, noticing the dewdrops on the leaves.
[00:35:25] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Like pulling the weeds, getting your hands in the dirt and your face on the sun, and I just think that that isn't, uh, there's so many layers to the joy and the goodness of being willing to give freely, but when we give things that enable people to plant a garden, like the ex- experience that we're inviting them into, like that feels really special and unique.
[00:35:50] Alicia Myers Leifheit: And I love that you have just actively and generously reached out in your community and cultivated that. And I think there's, in an industry that's grown rapidly, that has, you know, a tremendous amount of activity, you know, the flower-growing world is big, what I think is really cool about your story is the ways that you've brought the gift of gardening to your community, but then in the very same, on, on the very same path that you've been on, you've been also cultivating a sustainable business for yourself.
[00:36:25] Alicia Myers Leifheit: What are, like what are the ways that you've seen that be mutually beneficial to each other, both like having a sustainable business and the generosity and giving that you're doing in your community?
[00:36:36] Deanna Kitchen: I really think when I started the business, I didn't go into the business to make money.
[00:36:42] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:43] Deanna Kitchen: And my husband knew that going in.
[00:36:46] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I, I think, I think we just have to be honest about what our, our outcomes and goals that we want-
[00:36:51] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah ...
[00:36:51] Alicia Myers Leifheit: and objectives are, right?
[00:36:52] Deanna Kitchen: I mean, because flower farming, one, is not for the faint of heart.
[00:36:57] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:36:57] Deanna Kitchen: And it is not inexpensive.
[00:36:59] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:00] Deanna Kitchen: Especially if- You really care about the Earth like I do- Mm-hmm ... and your insects, and are growing sustainably and organically.
[00:37:08] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:08] Deanna Kitchen: There's a lot to it. But really, when I started the business, the goal was to give back to Growing Kindness and to break even.
[00:37:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:19] Deanna Kitchen: And because I really feel strongly in the mission-
[00:37:23] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Obviously.
[00:37:25] Deanna Kitchen: And I really wanted to be able to take, to not only work the mission, but to support the organization on a higher level.
[00:37:33] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:37:34] Deanna Kitchen: Which is why 10% of my tuber sales went back to Growing Kindness this year. Mm-hmm. Putting myself out there as the person that is offering the service and not neces- well, or, you know, giving the tuber. You know, I do free dividing classes- Mm ... to teach people. I'm giving these people tubers. I have to teach them how to store them and to divide them and all those things, too.
[00:37:58] Deanna Kitchen: And I don't charge for those things. That's not something I'm looking for. But at the same point in time, because those people have gotten to know me, they become customers by default.
[00:38:08] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm. Mm-hmm.
[00:38:10] Deanna Kitchen: And they know who I am. They know what is behind what I'm doing.
[00:38:15] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:38:16] Deanna Kitchen: And once you get sta- started growing dahlias, they're sort of addicting.
[00:38:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm. Smiles and nods, everyone ever who's ever grown them. Like, some girls have shoes, some girls have dahlias.
[00:38:31] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. No. I was just joking with a friend the other day, how many Louis Vuitton, how many dahlia tubers could we buy for the price of a Louis Vuitton purse?
[00:38:38] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I mean- ... let's do the math. I'd like to.
[00:38:40] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Give me
[00:38:41] Deanna Kitchen: the tubers any day.
[00:38:43] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah. Yeah. That's really, I love that, that they're not, they're not mutually exclusive. They're actually mutually inclusive. That, that generosity and sustainability and growth and success as a business can go absolutely hand in hand.
[00:38:59] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah.
[00:39:00] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah. So if anyone was listening today and maybe has never actually grown dahlias, I mean, I'm sure as they've listened, they have realized that dahlias are certainly your area of specialty.
[00:39:12] Alicia Myers Leifheit: If they've never grown dahlias, what would be your advice to someone who is brand new to growing dahlias? What would be the most helpful thing that you could give them that you wished you'd been given when you were first starting out?
[00:39:26] Deanna Kitchen: Find your local society, dahlia society, and go to the meetings.
[00:39:30] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Okay.
[00:39:30] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Oh, that's
[00:39:32] Deanna Kitchen: so, yeah. Those people, because every region in the country has things that are very specific, and I could give you one snidbit of advice, but it's gonna be very Pacific Northwest based. And if you're growing in Texas, if you're growing in Georgia, if you're growing in Maine- It's completely different
[00:39:51] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm
[00:39:51] Deanna Kitchen: And while the same premises still are there, it's that nuance that will allow you to be extremely successful.
[00:39:59] Deanna Kitchen: So I would say go find your local society.
[00:40:01] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Awesome. And then it's just like you hit, you touched on before, there's so much joy in learning together. I think learning together in and of itself is its own form of, like, creating community. You know? Like, that's something that's... we've got to witness and watch unfold within the greenhouse, which is our, like, online community, which is, you know, free to anyone who wants to be a part of the team, is just the ways that, like, learning together brings connection, and it brings...
[00:40:26] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I think because there's maybe something a little vulnerable when we're learning something new. So it's so awesome to get to be able to not only benefit from the wisdom and the actual skill and technique, you know, that you can learn in those organizations, but also just the doing it alongside of other people in your actual physical community, and get to be networked with them that way.
[00:40:49] Alicia Myers Leifheit: It's just really awesome.
[00:40:51] Deanna Kitchen: And- I'll tell you, these old-timers, they have all kinds of, like, back to basic tricks that, like, put a screw top on top of your water bottle and drill some holes through it and use it to water your seedlings. I'm like, "Hello. Who needs, you know, the fancy, you know- Mm-hmm ... $60 sprinkler when you can use a squirt bottle?"
[00:41:12] Deanna Kitchen: Create a squirt bottle. I mean, it's- Yes ...
[00:41:14] Alicia Myers Leifheit: yeah. Yes. And I think it's like we need each other. I mean, that is- that's truly what it's all about, is we need each other, and I think one of the really special opportunities that exists in dahlia societies is there are people coming up into, you know, the world of growing dahlias who need that counsel and support, but those people need community, and they need to have their voices be heard, and they need opportunities to teach, and so it's just so mutually beneficial.
[00:41:42] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Yeah. So, awesome. Okay. Well, I hope that anyone listening today is convinced to jump on a Buy, uh, the Buy Nothing. Was it Buy? Some of them are Buy, Sell, Swap, right? Some of the pages are called Buy, Sell, Swap, and some of them are called Buy Nothing.
[00:41:57] Deanna Kitchen: The Buy Nothing community, and if you go-
[00:41:59] Alicia Myers Leifheit: That's where it's at, is the Buy Nothing community on Facebook?
[00:42:02] Deanna Kitchen: Yeah. Well, and they're hyper local.
[00:42:04] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Okay.
[00:42:04] Deanna Kitchen: And a lot- there's stuff out there that has sort of been, you know, stretched and all that, but the core of the original Buy Nothing mission is that goods are exchanged freely-
[00:42:16] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm ...
[00:42:17] Deanna Kitchen: with no further expectation.
[00:42:18] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:42:19] Deanna Kitchen: So, you put it out there. You know you're not going to...
[00:42:23] Deanna Kitchen: You know s- not somebody's not gonna take something for free and, and go sell it. They're going to take what they need and share within their local community.
[00:42:31] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:42:31] Deanna Kitchen: And that's really the core premise of the original Buy Nothing mission.
[00:42:35] Alicia Myers Leifheit: So, it's definitely a resource that any of us could be using to be able to- Yeah
[00:42:40] Alicia Myers Leifheit: outreach in our community. I think sometimes people feel at a loss of knowing, like, "Where do I start building these connections?" Or, "How do I share my flowers?" And that's just a really beautiful resource that we all have right within our community to be able to tap into. I think, Alicia, you have reminded us all today just that kindness is so accessible to all of us, and it doesn't have to be over-complicated, and we really can just start where we are.
[00:43:04] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I love all the parts of your story that have reminded us of that today. And that those small seeds really have the power to make a big impact, you know, from the seeds that your grandpa planted for you in your life and taking you into the garden, to those that now you're spreading in your community. So on that thought that there's no such thing as a small act of kindness because they all have the power to ripple out far beyond any distance that we could ever imagine- What is an act of kindness that someone shared with you once that you still carry in your heart today?
[00:43:37] Deanna Kitchen: Like you said, oftentimes they're the smallest things, and this is just one that's on the top of my head right now. Because it's just the moments that come out of the blue where someone just takes a minute and thinks about you.
[00:43:50] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:51] Deanna Kitchen: St. Patrick's Day, I get a text that says, "Go check your doorstep."
[00:43:56] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:58] Deanna Kitchen: And there was this little quarter-size four-leaf crocheted clover that appeared on my doorstep. And after everything we've talked about, I bet you know who that came from.
[00:44:09] Alicia Myers Leifheit: I know exactly who it came from.
[00:44:12] Deanna Kitchen: And it was just an out of the blue moment, and it was just... I had been having a really hard day.
[00:44:20] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:20] Deanna Kitchen: And it was just that moment of the Hernandez girls, if you haven't put the connection together- ... Sarafine in particular, just taking the minute and saying, "I need to make one of these and drop off to Michelle."
[00:44:34] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm. I see you, I remember you, right?
[00:44:39] Deanna Kitchen: And I think a lot of times as busy moms, going, going, going, doing, doing, doing for everyone else, sometimes we don't feel seen.
[00:44:52] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Mm-hmm.
[00:44:53] Deanna Kitchen: And those little moments of feeling seen just really are special
[00:45:02] Alicia Myers Leifheit: Thank you so much for listening to the Growing Kindness Podcast. If today's episode encouraged you, there are a few simple ways to keep growing kindness with us. First, you can join the team. When you become a Growing Kindness gardener, you link arms with like-minded, like-hearted people from all around the world who believe that small acts of kindness really do make a big difference.
[00:45:21] Alicia Myers Leifheit: To learn more or join the team, visit growingkindnessproject.org/gardener. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, membership is free. Another way to get involved is to become a donor. The Growing Kindness movement and this, our podcast, are made possible by the generosity of our donors, kindhearted people who believe, just like you, kindness matters.
[00:45:43] Alicia Myers Leifheit: If you'd like to support the movement, visit growingkindnessproject.org/donate to make a gift and keep kindness blooming. And finally, if this episode touched your heart, would you share it with a friend? It's one of the simplest ways to spread kindness today. I'm so grateful you're here. Until next time, keep growing kindness, one bloom at a time.
[00:46:19] Alicia Myers Leifheit: This podcast is made possible in part by Her Connection Hub, a female-focused co-working space in Bellingham, Washington, who generously provides the studio space where these conversations are recorded
