Waiting for the Vegetables

The past two weeks have been full of preparations for the spring planting in the community garden. The Misses and I joined this project in June of last year, and enjoyed meeting new people while we pulled weeds, put down newspaper in an effort to stop the weeds, and harvested the vegetables. We learned about new veggies and new ways to prepare familiar ones. It was such an incredible experience for all of us.

One of the reasons that I wanted to get involved in this project is that we get to bring home fresh vegetables that we helped grow without having 100% of the gardening effort falling on us. One reason that I came to love this project is that whatever the volunteers cannot use in their own homes goes to a food bank about 50 feet away from the garden. People I don't know and may never meet are getting fresh vegetables to put on their tables because my daughters and I wanted some tomatoes. How awesome is that?

This year the project has grown. The garden itself is larger. It is now about 7600 square feet. The list of volunteers has grown. We had about a dozen new volunteers sign up with us in just one week! The variety of plants has grown. This year we have herbs in the garden as well as a whole row of Japanese vegetables and herbs. We also have 4 fruit trees - 2 peach and 2 apple.

Last year, the first year of the project, was a true learning experience. Our local Farm Bureau really took a guiding role, and pretty much told us how to do everything. This year we decided what plants we wanted to have, figured out where to get them, and planned things ourselves. Not that we didn't get help from the Farm Bureau. I have several e-mails in my in-box with answers to all kinds of questions!

We have made other connections this year though. We have been able to take advantage of several opportunities to get our name out to the public. There is a group in a near-by neighborhood that is starting their own community garden and asked our "leader" to talk to their community group about how our garden works. We have been able to get informational posters out to community gatherings where we have been able to tell people what we do. These opportunities have led to more volunteers, and a greater knowledge base from which to draw.

We now have a volunteer who knows a lot about companion plants, and has been teaching the rest of us. He is also helping us learn about more organic methods of gardening. We have been heading in the right direction, but there is more that we can do! We also have materials to put in a simple drip irrigation system for about half of the garden thanks to a local business that we just made contact with for the first time about 10 days ago. Out local feed and seed store helped us out with lots of seeds to plant, and helped us find a certain green bean seed when they did not have any in stock.

One of our biggest supporters has been our local Lowe's Home Improvement store. They donated plants, trees, and gloves for the spring planting. They have offered support in so many other ways throughout the year. I do not know if this positive, enthusiastic attitude toward community service is a corporate idea, or if it is just our local manager and his staff, but they have been incredible. INCREDIBLE! They are truly excited to see our project grow.

This garden is an adventure waiting to happen every time I go out. We have tons of children who come with their parents and we have mature volunteers who come on their own. We have neighbors who learned about the garden from another neighbor. We have people from all walks of life, all stages of life, and many cultures. Sometimes we have nothing in common with the people we are working with except the garden. But it never stays that way. As time passes and we work together, the garden truly becomes a community gathering spot.

The community garden has grown a community of her own.