We’ve purchased the seeds, soil, bulbs, and vegetables for the Mansion’s beautiful but neglected gardens for the past four years.

They are gorgeous now, and the residents love to sit by them on the back porch and help plant them when they can.

They miss their gardens terribly, and this is a joy to them.

Today, I brought the hundreds of seeds, bulbs, and topsoil for planting, which begins next week.  This is our fourth year working to bring the garden back.

The residents love growing some of their food, and the flowers often show up in their rooms.

Tania Woodward coordinates the garden, and she is standing in front of Zinnia, the Mansion garden dog.

I got Tania an Easter Floral Bunny as a thank you gift – I knew she would love it – to thank her for helping me and us do our work and targeting it precisely and economically.

She has helped me bring our Mansion work roaring back to life after the long and jarring pandemic. We’ve ordered tea, shoes, clothes, bras, toiletries like shampoo and body wash.

Tania is unique – she has tons of ideas and energies and helps me target the needs and problems of the residents. I think we are being more effective than ever.

Tomorrow, I’m bringing nine bouquets to the Mansion to replace the ones we bought a couple of weeks ago to put on the dining room table.

We can reuse the bouquets, bringing the fresh flowers’ cost down to $50 or $60 every few weeks. We are brightening the atmosphere of the Mansion in visible and essential ways.

Every dining room table now has fresh and sweet-smelling flowers, and the residents can choose from dozens of teas for the first time.

Everyone who needs shoes and clothes has them; we will need to look for some lighter pajamas and dresses  and pants when the weather heats up.

If you wish to help the Mansion work, you can contribute via Paypal, [email protected], or Venmo, Jon-Katz@Jon-Katz-13.

You can also send a check in any amount to Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. We’re pretty low.

Thanks.