How I Came to Teach About Bird Gardening
southwest garden guide 
Once upon a time I didn't know much about birds - but I was enchanted by them so I set out to create a healthy and happy home for them in my yard.
Also in this series of blogs on this site - I discuss 15 Things You Never Knew About Desert Birds. Once upon a time I didn't know those things either, but I was enchanted with the few desert birds that stopped by my garden and I wanted to see more. So I started my journey towards creating a garden for desert birds. Now I see many different species of native birds in my desert garden.
Bird Gardening Class is Here!
The “Bird Gardening" class is done and up!Hope you will consider it. As always the Gardening With Soule Membership Club folks get the class for free - it's one of the "perks." So if you have thought about joining - why not today?!
By the way - There are a number of videos plus a downloadable plant list as part of the course.
Nature or Nurture?
I learned gardening at my grandparents knees. Both sets of grandparents. Grandma on one side and Grandpa on the other. Their kids - my parents – not so much of gardeners. They do say it skips a generation....
I also liked writing stories from an early age. I was encouraged in this by my parents. My first ever published story was in “American Girl” magazine in the 1960's and it was about – Gardening! It was even illustrated with a carefully crayoned picture of my garden with an ocotillo and a saguaro. I sure do wish I could find a copy but I do not recall the year or issue.
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Grew Up in the Desert
Yes, I grew up gardening in the desert. I learned how to plant vegetables in the correct season so they would grow and (proudly) helped feed my family. Let me mention that the first time I stuck a shovel in soil in Vermont I was astounded. It was so easy to dig in “back East” soils!
Desert Plants and Desert People
I also learned about the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert at an early age. My mother was a student of Drs. Ned and Roz Spicer so I also learned to foods and folkways of the O'odham and Yeome (Yaqui). We didn't need to speak the same language to play kid games and have fun. The elders were gentle with children too. I learned how to make fiber ropes from agave when I was about ten.
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Now It's Just What I Do
Writing
I am a gardener, urban homesteader, and award-winning garden writer, with over a dozen published books, all on gardening or using the products of the garden. I was a popular newspaper and magazine columnist - for decades, until print journalism mostly went away. My free-lance work appears in numerous national publications. Along with writing one new book a year, I am an active blogger, on Gardening With Soule free site (dot net), the Gardening With Soule Membership Club, and the Savor the Southwest (dot net) free site.
There are also Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels to go with these sites - but that's a different story. There is even some plant fun on TikTok.
Teaching
For over 30 years, I have been offering lectures and community classes on gardening - and ways to live lightly on this earth. I am a popular speaker with green industry professionals, garden groups, and in other venues. I am listed in Great Garden Speakers (dot org).
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Yes it is Dr. Soule
This is from my “About Me” page on my website: “Dr. Soule has a B.S. in Horticulture and a B.S. in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona both with Honors and Cum Laude, a M.S. in Botany from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Texas. Her post-doc work was at Washington State University. Combine this cross-country experience with summers in Vermont and an internship at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, and this means she has gardened in almost every corner of the USA! This also means that she can help you better understand how unique gardening here is here in the desert - and how to shift your gardening practices to succeed with your gardening in the Land of El Sol.”
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Just Jacqueline
And while it is Dr. Soule – am here as your friend to help you learn how to succeed with your desert gardening goals. I ask readers to think of me as Jacqueline. I only tell you the “Dr.” to let you know that I have the training to understand plants and how they grow, and how biological systems work. I took a number of Ecology courses as well – and this has helped me work to create my own functional bird garden where almost every native desert bird can find something to meet it's life needs at least at some point in the year.
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Bird Gardening Class is Here!
The “Bird Gardening" class is done and up!Hope you will consider it. As always the Gardening With Soule Membership Club folks get the class for free - it's one of the "perks." So if you have thought about joining - why not today?!
By the way - There are a number of videos plus a downloadable workbook and plant list as part of the course.
Peace -
Jacqueline
PS – because the NewZenler course site is based in Europe, the sign-up is a tad more formal than here in the USA. Don't let it worry you.
Categories: birds