Spring on the Key Peninsula
Maureen Reilly
The idea for this video was born soon after we entered lockdown. The days were lengthening and buds swelling on the trees and shrubs. The Key Peninsula (KP) community chafed at restrictions that kept them from visiting each other’s homes and gardens, as they normally would in the spring. The usual plant and flower exchanges were cancelled, and people began expressing their sadness and fear on social media.
At the Mustard Seed Project (TMSP), our in-house activities were cancelled indefinitely, and we discussed how we could continue to bring enrichment to the seniors we serve and also to the greater community. We were only too aware that social isolation is one of the major factors causing depression and grief in older adults. The pandemic heightened the problem dramatically. For some time, we had thought of starting our own YouTube channel, and Covid-19 brought the idea from “someday” to “now.”
As the Operations Director at TMSP, I was (and am) heavily involved in the programs we offer. I am also a professional videographer, so it seemed logical for me to gather ideas from other staff and volunteers and to take on the role of creating the majority of the content for our channel. One of our board members suggested that a video about gardening might be popular, as more and more community members became serious about growing vegetables and making their gardens beautiful. Thus, “Spring on the KP” became one of our first video projects.
We wanted to showcase the colorful blooms emerging locally and to demonstrate how simple and easy it is to grow a variety of plants in something as small as a picnic hamper or as large as a quarter-acre garden.
Many people were reluctant to have any interaction with anyone other than immediate family, so the scenes of blooming shrubs and trees were taken from my own ten-acre property, our local nursery, or from public spaces. A community member contributed photographs from her own extensive garden.
The KP is a community rich in talent, character, and eccentricity. Tweed Meyer has long been an icon on the peninsula. An amazingly talented artist, she is well known for her interest in recycling, reuse, and organic practices, as well as just being a fun person. She was the logical choice to be one of the gardeners featured in the video. I was delighted when she agreed to allow me to come to her garden and document the ways in which she encourages her great variety of flowers and vegetables to flourish on a small budget. The two baskets she created for the video were donated to local low-income seniors.
Sunnycrest Nursery was founded and owned for many years by one of the families who pioneered the original homesteads out here. When they sold the business a few years ago, many people were nervous about the change and were ready to mourn the loss of a community fixture. Debbie Cassidy quickly put all their fears to rest with her respect for tradition, her knowledge, and her commitment to quality. She took this well-established nursery and brought in fresh life, while preserving the best of what she inherited. Debbie showed us how simple it is to create beauty in a small space and how to bring yearlong color into our lives – no matter our abilities or circumstances.
I have been thrilled at the response to this video both on the Key Peninsula and farther afield. It has brought the joy, optimism, and lightening of hearts that we all hoped it would achieve.
At the Mustard Seed Project (TMSP), our in-house activities were cancelled indefinitely, and we discussed how we could continue to bring enrichment to the seniors we serve and also to the greater community. We were only too aware that social isolation is one of the major factors causing depression and grief in older adults. The pandemic heightened the problem dramatically. For some time, we had thought of starting our own YouTube channel, and Covid-19 brought the idea from “someday” to “now.”
As the Operations Director at TMSP, I was (and am) heavily involved in the programs we offer. I am also a professional videographer, so it seemed logical for me to gather ideas from other staff and volunteers and to take on the role of creating the majority of the content for our channel. One of our board members suggested that a video about gardening might be popular, as more and more community members became serious about growing vegetables and making their gardens beautiful. Thus, “Spring on the KP” became one of our first video projects.
We wanted to showcase the colorful blooms emerging locally and to demonstrate how simple and easy it is to grow a variety of plants in something as small as a picnic hamper or as large as a quarter-acre garden.
Many people were reluctant to have any interaction with anyone other than immediate family, so the scenes of blooming shrubs and trees were taken from my own ten-acre property, our local nursery, or from public spaces. A community member contributed photographs from her own extensive garden.
The KP is a community rich in talent, character, and eccentricity. Tweed Meyer has long been an icon on the peninsula. An amazingly talented artist, she is well known for her interest in recycling, reuse, and organic practices, as well as just being a fun person. She was the logical choice to be one of the gardeners featured in the video. I was delighted when she agreed to allow me to come to her garden and document the ways in which she encourages her great variety of flowers and vegetables to flourish on a small budget. The two baskets she created for the video were donated to local low-income seniors.
Sunnycrest Nursery was founded and owned for many years by one of the families who pioneered the original homesteads out here. When they sold the business a few years ago, many people were nervous about the change and were ready to mourn the loss of a community fixture. Debbie Cassidy quickly put all their fears to rest with her respect for tradition, her knowledge, and her commitment to quality. She took this well-established nursery and brought in fresh life, while preserving the best of what she inherited. Debbie showed us how simple it is to create beauty in a small space and how to bring yearlong color into our lives – no matter our abilities or circumstances.
I have been thrilled at the response to this video both on the Key Peninsula and farther afield. It has brought the joy, optimism, and lightening of hearts that we all hoped it would achieve.
BIO: I was born in Scotland and emigrated to the US at the age of 21. I have lived in Switzerland, North Carolina, New York City, California, Melbourne, Australia and have been in the Puget Sound area for about 30 years. Although I had many years of experience in still photography, I did not start experimenting with video until I met my husband in 2009. In 2014, after multi-year careers in both medical research and commercial property management. I began working at the Mustard Seed Project, a small nonprofit on the Key Peninsula which helps older people stay in their own homes when they can no longer drive or keep up the property. I am now the Operations Director for that organization.
At the present time, I live on my 10 acres in Vaughn with 7 alpacas (3 of them rescues), 3 goats (2 are rescues), 2 Rottweiler cross dogs (both rescues), and my husband, who would occasionally like to be rescued.
At the present time, I live on my 10 acres in Vaughn with 7 alpacas (3 of them rescues), 3 goats (2 are rescues), 2 Rottweiler cross dogs (both rescues), and my husband, who would occasionally like to be rescued.