Garden III: The Flood

As I laid to down to fall asleep I couldn't help but hear the heavy rain pour down on our apartment parking lot. Three thoughts started forming much like the needed rain clouds. "Yes! I may not have to work tomorrow." : you see, during this past summer I worked for mosquito control. When it rained we didn't have to work. "Yes! I don't have to water the garden tomorrow." and "NO! what if there is too much water and it ruins my newly planted vegetables." I had just planted new cucumbers, onions (not big onions, just the little green onions that you put in salads and on top of chinese food), and radishes.

The next day, the rain had stopped and I ended up having to work. Every swamp I trudged through that day had significantly increased in size because of the large rain fall. The whole time my thoughts kept drifting to my garden and what my new vegetables must have looked like.

As I arrived to the garden, my eyes were not prepared for the horror that they saw (So maybe that last line is a bit over dramatic, but bear with me I'm trying to build up some serious mental pictures). In all seriousness I did not expect to see as much damage that day. I had luck on my side when I choose my garden. My garden laid in the middle of the garden plots, close to the creek but not too close. The large amount of rain created a small flood in the garden plots of Hopkins, and killed many newly planted vegetables. As I looked from one side of the garden plots to the other, I saw faces of distraught people trying to rebuild what they worked so hard for. Some of these people used the vegetables for their lively hood. Selling them at the farmer's market and feeding their families. Almost everyone that had garden plots close to the creek had to restart and replant. I happened to be lucky because the flood water had made a path to the creek that only took out one corner of my garden. I only had to replant some of my vegetables.

I left the garden completely distraught that day. I also left with two thoughts, one completely insigificant and one significant. I insigificantly realized that I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to gardening. I also realized how horrible it must have been to ever lose a family member, house, car or anything because of a flood. Trying to deal with loss and trying to think of things to prevent a situation that may not have been preventable. The small flood at my garden helped me realize how horrible it must have been for the people that went through Hurricane Katrina and the horrors that followed. I know there is hope, but that day in the garden I struggled to find any.

"The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we're going to drown!' He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'" Luke 8:24-25

Garden II: The People

The first time I arrived at the garden, I carried seeds, a bucket, and a hoe. The sun shone brightly, the weahter hot, and my brain empty. I knew nothing about gardening. Although I had excitment in my naiveness because I knew that it would force me to talk to the people around me and ask for help. Throughout my summer I met many different people coming from all kinds of different areas of life, but I will focus on 3 main characters. I use the word "characters" for a reason. These people were some of the most genuine, giving, hospitable, and weird people I have ever met. Immediately they called me into their group and shared what they had, which wasn't much. I was always offered gardening tools, water, and weed ( I never accepted the weed, but there was plenty). They taught me so much about community. They were great. Throughout these "garden stories", I'll be mentioning these three people the most. Tonight I'll just share about the first time I ever met them.

Leigh: Leigh was 53, but she looked a little older than that. It was probably because she said she had smoked anything she could get her hands on since she was 29. She was a small woman that could not have weighed more the 90 pounds. Leigh's daughter dropped her off at the garden everyday and picked Leigh up after she was done with work. Various people brought her food throughout the day. Most of her days were spent sitting in the shade and talking with whoever passed by. Towards the end of the summer I planned for extra time to sit in the shade with Leigh and listen to what she was fired up about that day. She was pretty fiesty. She kind of reminded me of a woman that would be on the show "cops", smoking a cigarette and yelling at her husband.
The first time I met Leigh she was sitting at the edge of someone's garden talking their ear off. As I was watering and weeding, I knew I was next. Not more than 5 minutes later Leigh and I were shooting the breeze. I found that she was a unhealthy diabetic and that she didn't have much strength. She asked if I could water her garden in exchange for some homemade jelly. Let me tell you, it was worth the trade.

Dave: Even as I type, I can't help but laugh when I think of Dave. He was probably in his thirties. Dave was always shirtless, actually in the car today I tried to remember if I ever saw him with his shirt on, I don't think so. He wore black jeans with a big budweiser belt buckle that had the clidesdale horses pulling a wagon. He toted sunglasses, and a set of those radio headphones. His garden was immaculate. No weed could survive on his land. The only time he stopped working was to take a break in the shady spot of the garden plots. Everyone would sit in a circle, pass around a pipe, and get back to work. I will always remember the first time I met Dave because as I walked passed his garden, he kind of half-yelled something to me ( which I never did understand, but it seemed that he was happy to meet me and glad that I was there), laughed really hard, and went back to work.

Howard: Howard, Howard, Howard. I could write pages upon pages about Howard. I think I could write a mini-book , which I think this post is turning into, entitled "A summer getting to know Howard". Howard was a skinny man and also in his thirties. Howard always had a sleeveless shirt, cut-off jeans, and a fanny pack (bum bag for my friends in Australia). I could never tell if Howard was sober or drunk. I think most of the time he was pretty liquered up. He always told me that everyone in the garden was on a "ship filled with bumbling idiots.....and fools". He would say "Dave....that's your name right? I KNEW it was Dave! All of us here are on a ship filled with bumbling idiots and fools. I'm not the captain, I'm just along for the ride." I could tell Howard was indeed the captain. People in the garden listened to Howard. I was lucky I got in good with him, because he introduced me to everyone else. I would have never met Leigh and Dave if it wasn't for Howard. I couldn't always piece together everything he was talking about but I tried. He was my favourite. Instantly I knew he could take a joke and I only had to be half serious with him. Howard was the first person I met as I stepped into the garden. I quickly found out that my 20' by 20' plot of land had not been tilled and that my little hoe was not going to cut it. Howard had a gas powered tiller and offered to till my plot....for a price. Right away we started negotiating. He wanted a case of beer to till my plot. I said "a case of beer sounds a little steep don't you think." He quickly responded with "I drink cheap beer". I said "How cheap?". Howard answered with "12 bucks". I offered him 10 dollars. A half hour later my garden was tilled and I could tell the soil was rich. I left the garden that day knowing I was the newest crew member of the "ship filled with bumbling idiots and fools". I couldn't have been happier.

Garden I : The Basics

As I start these "garden blogs" I figured I should start with the basics.

For a couple of years I had this idea floating around in the back of my mind. I wanted to start a garden to grow organic vegetables. I loved the idea of working the ground and actually producing food to eat. Especially vegetables! I am always racking my brain to find new ways to get more involved with the community and I found that almost every city has a community garden that you can be part of. Instantly I was drawn to the idea. The two things I was searching for, community and gardening, could be found in one place. Is this heaven? No, It's Hopkins, MN.

It didn't take long for me to find a place in the community garden. All it took was 10 dollars and a trip to city hall. I started speaking with the secretary about the land, how many plots I should get, and how to get water to my garden plot. The conversation went something like this.

Me: How many plots do you think I should get?

Secretary: Well do you have a family, how many mouths are you feeding?

Me: Just me.

Secretary: A bachelor eh? I would say one is plenty, especially since this is your first time. Your going to have cucumbers coming out of your ears.

Me: AWESOME! I'll take one. What about water?

Secretary: There is a small creek that runs along the garden plots. You'll have to bring buckets to haul water.

Me thinking: "Lady, you just made my day. I completely enjoy the idea of hauling my own water."

15 minutes later I was the proud owner of a 20' by 20' plot of land, located 7 blocks south of the Hopkins movie thearte.

Since my garden plot wasn't going to be ready for a couple of weeks I had plenty of time to prepare. Of course I wasted all of that time, and a week after my garden was ready I made a trip to Menards to buy seeds. As I walked through the doors at Menards, I realized I should have done some research about what kind of vegetables I should be buying. There are so many different kinds.

I bought: Radishes, GREEN PEPPERS!!, cucumbers, butternut squash, sweet corn, onions, lettuce, eggplant, competition size pumpkin seeds, broccoli, tomatoes, and zucchini.

I was in way over my head.......

The Garden Series

Recently I've been wanting to blog about something, but I wasn't sure what. I didn't just want to blog aimlessly about random thoughts. I've done that before, and enjoy it, but I wanted to start blogging with something in mind.

Today it hit me. I had just finished showering and I started to think about blogging, and BOOM I thought, "I should blog about all my garden stories from this summer." Most of the people that read this blog have probably heard all of these stories about the garden, but I wanted to be able to use the blog to reflect and report all the things that went on this summer. I think it will be a good time. It'll be a great time for me, because it will help me focus on what I learned this summer. Hopefully it will be fun for any readers as well.

I think I will call it the "True confessions from a Hopkins Garden" at least for now. More to come.