MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The killing fields of Ukraine and the fertile fields of the Skagit Valley are worlds apart but are connected by people rooted in their love of beauty.
"The garden has become a lifeline for her entire family," said Erin Benzakein, who runs Floret Flower Farm in Mount Vernon.
While searching for seeds one day, she discovered a woman blogging about seeds and selling them online.
Then Benzakein learned the story behind them.
"It's just what she is going through and how she is able to find hope and beauty in such a difficult situation," Benzakein said.
She's talking about Alla Olkhovska, a gardener surviving in war-torn Ukraine.
Before the war, Olkhovska dreamed of opening her nursery on the land where her great-grandfather worked as an orchard.
Since the war started, Olkhovska sells plant and flower seeds from her garden to support her family, amidst the regular howl of air raid sirens, shelling and power blackouts.
She is caring for her grandmother, mother-in-law and husband who is still recovering from an extreme case of COVID.
Benzakein bought dozens of packets of the seeds, each one hand-labeled by Olkhovska herself.
"These seeds, they are like little packages of hope," Benzakein said. "They are just little pieces of magic from her garden that we want to pass along to other people."
The money is spent on food, fuel and medicine for the family.
Benzakein and her co-worker Rob Finch produced a short film called "Gardening in a War Zone" about Olkhovska's struggles with the hope of getting more people to buy her seeds.
While locked down in a bomb shelter, Olkhovska wrote a digital book called "Clematis" about gardening.
Finch is hoping people will learn her story and help her family find a patch of peace in the brutality of war.
"She leans into beauty, leans into hope and optimism and is determined to keep going in spite of her circumstances," Finch said.
KING 5 News spoke with Olkhovska via Zoom in between power blackouts at her home.
"You just find yourself so, so, so desperate," Olkhovska said.
Olkhovska is eternally grateful to have her story told, as well as the opportunity to better the well-being of her family.
"I can say this has been the best thing which happened in my life now," Olkhovska said.
When asked what message she wants people to take away from all this, Olkhovska replied, "First of all, I want to tell everyone not to give up. No matter the situation, just do not give up. And continue doing what you can because this is the only way to help yourself, your relatives and other people around you."
Finding strength and beauty in the ugliness of war.
"We hope to see seeds all over the world all connected to Alla," Benzakein said.