Engineering Lessons I’ve Learned from Working at the Japanese Tea Garden

Since September 2017, I’ve been volunteering at the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. I work with the head gardener, seasoned bonsai devotees, and a master gardener to prune trees, mend fences, beat back bamboo, pull weeds, catch koi fish, and clean ponds. These tasks may not seem relevant to engineering teams, …