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.