March 8th-23rd Birthday, Past accomplishments, Blog 6 year anniversary & new things to come!

Yesterday March 8th was my and my brothers (triplets) 23rd birthday and when I first stared my blog I used to post a little about myself every year, but I have not done that in awhile. I'd like to take this time to talk about myself and things that have accomplished that I didn't have to time when it occurred, but first a little about myself. My name is Derek McKay, I am a triplet I have brothers Bryan and Chase who share a birthday with me and I have an additional older brother Aric as well. We all grew up in the town of Clayton in Northwest Wisconsin with my parents Wendy and Don, it was there that I discovered my passion for weather and gardening as well as gaining a sense for my community. My interests in weather sparked from watching storms from my hometown house, one in particular that I remember is the 2006 strait line wind event of MN/WI/MI. I began filming and photographing storms as well as forecasting for the area around my hometown. I did my first stormchase at 18 with my dad which was a 7 mile journey from Clayton,WI to Clear Lake,WI. My first major chase was with long time storm chasing friend Dave W. from Isanti,MN and others where we went to Kansas City,MO where I saw my first significant weather event. What my family remembers most about my past in terms of my weather passion is running from the computer to check radar and then running to the door to see the storm front coming in.

 My original garden-Clayton, WI

My passion for horticulture began when I got a plant ( Achillea ) from my mom. I planted next to an old tractor in at the house I grew up in and a passion for horticulture was born. It was that as well as the influence of my nearby aunts, Carol and Ruthie's beautiful gardens who lived nearby that really sparked my interest for gardening. Living in wooded hills of Northwest Wisconsin had its advantages because there were many species of trees,shrubs and flowers and while growing up I would discover a new species and research it extensively one by one. This really helped when it came to college. I knew I had 2 passions, weather and horticulture but when it came time to enroll in college I had to pick one, However I knew that I would always have weather as a passion and weather and horticulture paired together very well!

With the support of my aunts and immediately family and after looking and many degrees and colleges decided horticulture was going to be my career. After leaving my now fully landscaped hometown home I enrolled and went to Rochester Community and Technical College in Rochester,MN, which was also the start of my move southward. It was in Rochester that I discovered I really liked people and volunteering because my aunt Candie who I stayed with in college was very involved in volunteering. While living there I got the opportunity to landscape her yard which helped my new found skills in college develop. This leads me to something I never got the chance discuss on my blog because I became busy with starting a career.


After taking many great classes, including Meteorology as an extra class that tied in very well with my interests, in May 2013 I graduated with a degree in Horticulture and I had the honor of receiving high honors and a GPA of 3.8-4.0 which confirmed to me I was taking on a career I had a lot of knowledge in. After college I starting my next journey and moved to Iowa when I was offered a job at a garden center, first in Cedar Rapids for the 2013 season, and now Des Moines for the 2014 season. I've also became involved with volunteering for such organizations as Trees Forever and City park and rec departments, and soon to be the Des Moines Botanical Garden here in Des Moines.

As for my future career goal, it is simply, I'd like to get a year round job in horticulture working as a consultant or in a public garden and eventual home ownership.

As for anyone interested in hearing the career paths of my brothers, Bryan is perusing, Cosmetology,  Chase Medical, and Aric Law Enforcement. Which says how even though we are triplets we have very diverse personalities.

This brings me to my next topic, I'd like to recognize this is my blogs 6th year running! In 2008 a friend of mine talked me into a blog which lead me to start the blog I still have today. I first ran it for weather in Northwest Wisconsin, then gardening as well and now I run this blog for both. Long time viewers from the beginning until now have had the opportunity to watch both my passions develop into what they are now.

As for the future of my blog, I will continue to run it, and I actually have exciting times ahead for it. I have become involved with a weather group called Iowa Weather Network in which I will be doing some forecasting as well as publishing posts about horticulture. I will have more information and links on this in the coming days.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know the person behind the blog!

Derek McKay.