Karen Connolly grew up in Liverpool, England and Paul McCartney was one of her childhood friends. When her family moved here and she later learned her old friend had become famous with the Beatles, she was unhappy they had moved. But she found her own way and went on to have a family of her own and a career as a financial adviser. Now she's working on her next career, selling raised garden boxes that enable almost anyone to garden easily.
When she was a girl in Liverpool England, Karen Connolly played cricket and soccer with the young Paul McCartney. She lived three houses away on Forthlin Road and moved to America when she was 11. Today after 30 years as a financial adviser she has embarked on a new business called Squareganics. It's both the name of the company and the product.
They consist of various sizes of raised garden boxes that are based on an idea called “Square Foot Gardening” from a book by Mel Bartholomew. The business represents a kind of personal renewal for Connolly. When her youngest son David got cancer he asked his older brother Michael to be his care giver. Despite a brave battle, David died at the age of 24. This was a terrible blow to the family as they tried to cope with the loss. Then, Karen’s elderly mother told her that she really missed gardening. Karen and Michael came up with the idea to build a raised garden box that required no stooping over and based it on Bartholomew’s book.
After repeated inquiries they turned it into a business.
Michael, who is a contractor, builds all the boxes, using cedar or fir and they promote the benefits of organic gardening. The boxes yield a surprising amount of produce, because the small space gardening concept uses precise planting techniques. They come in a variety of standard sizes or can be custom built in other sizes and they are very sturdy. They will even deliver them within a limited range of West Seattle. Squareganics headquarters are located just off Delridge Way.
Connolly has only been working on Squareganics for a year and now sells them at West Seattle Nursery and through her website.
Beyond saving your back, Connolly likes to point out that a raised box, planted in the right way is actually very easy for almost anyone.
Karen Connolly’s journey proves that getting back in touch with nature can lead to your own renewal. You can learn more about Squareganics at her website, www.Squareganics.com .
