Garden VI: The Thieves

I remember walking out from the car and heading towards the garden. The August sun had made the day hot, and it had been a long day working at mosquito control. I wore my green dickies, a slightly worn white Hanes tagless t-shirt, and my wal-mart 14.99 hiking boots. It had to have been around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon because I usually got off of work around 3:00. My hair and beard were pretty short then, but I still felt the heat. I had planned on making this trip to the garden a short one. I had one thing on my mind...corn.

In my last post I wrote about how I waited a long, long time to get my tomatoes to grow, ripen, and taste delicious. Well, I waited even longer for the sweet corn. Sweet corn seems to take forever to grow, but once it does, it's worth the wait. The last time I had come to the garden, I peeled back the husk on one of my ears of corn, and saw that the corn would be ready in just a few short days. The night before and all day during work I thought about how wonderful it would be to harvest my very own batch of corn. I thought about all those times I bought corn from roadside vendors and I took it home to husk, boil, douse in a copious amount of butter, and lightly salt it. I dreamt about each bite, and how occasionally the juice would squirt onto my hand or maybe onto my cheek. I smiled to myself when I thought about the corn getting stuck in my teeth, and how I would just chuckle knowing that this time it was MY corn getting wedged in between my chompers.

As I walked to the garden that day, a sight had caught my eye. My garden looked different. Something wasn't right. It looked out of place. My fence, made of posts, and twine, was still in place. My tomato plant was still dominating the back corner of the garden. My zucchini and butternut squash vines were still crawling all over the place. The seven foot tall sun flower was still soaking up all the sunshine rays. Only one thing was missing from this 20' X 20' plot.......my corn. My mind started racing...."what happened?" "How could this be?" " I was just here a few days ago! Everything was fine, the corn looked good." "How could everything have fallen over?" "How could get it trampled like this?" "I don't understand." "AAAAAH, if it was Mario, I am going to be so mad. They warned me about him, coming in and stealing people's vegetables. I'm calling the city of hopkins, and reporting that guy! Oh, I'm calling the mayor. He's got to be able to handle this." "AAAAH, POLICE, POLICE someone has taken my corn!!! My precious, precious corn!!!" Then like a lightening bolt direct from the cloudless sky, I remember some advice someone gave me just about a week earlier. "You better watch that corn, rookie, the raccoons like to steal it. They always seems to get it the night before you are going to pick it. It's like they monitor your corn better than you do." This statement was a direct hit. I looked at the ground and sure enough I could see those little foot prints in the dirt.

In the end, all of my corn had been taken by the raccoons. Sure there were a few empty cobs laying on the ground, and maybe there was still one ear on the broken stalks, but it wasn't edible. By this time, the ear was insect covered, and they were getting a good meal out of it. All of gardening was an experience. I learned a lot that summer. The rest of the time, in my garden, I sprayed it with a homemade animal repellent. The repellent worked, but it was far too late to save my long awaited batch of corn.

Garden V: The Vine

Receiving my first fruits was awesome! I loved eating the vegetables I had grown. Although Tomatoes were a whole different story, it seems like they take forever. I waited and waited for them to finally turn red, and when one turns red they all turn red. It was pretty incredible.
My tomato journey started in the front of a Menards store. I was already late in the season and I was a little worried that I wasn't going to be able to buy the Tomato cages that were my sole purpose for traveling to Mernards. As I stepped into the store every fear melted away as I was bombarded with a storm of Tomato cage choices. Of course, being the thrifty boy that I am, I purchased THE cheapest ones I could find. I do believe they were 95 cents a piece. I think I bought four or five. That day I was a happy little gardener as I traveled to my plot.
When I returned to my plot I was greeted by Howard as he looked over my purchase. I excitedly said "I got these babies for 95 cents a piece." Thinking Howard would be quite pleased with my frugality. He instantly responded with "What you got there is 95 cents worth of crap, those things aren't going to last at all! What you need is good old rusty ones. Those are the ones that are going to last." This took me a bit by surprise because in my own little naive way, I thought "Mernards could never sell me faulty equipment! I trust Mernards!" Naturally I was way off and Howard was right on the money. Why wouldn't he be? He was, after all, a true gardener. I was just the rookie. Never the less, I had to use the cages, I bought them!

As the tomato plants grew I realized how over bearing they can be. The vines go where they please, and I had to keep a strict eye on them. They would bring each other down to support themselves, and they would go in places where tomatoes would never grow. The cages crumbled from the weight of the plants, and after a while I realized that Tomatoes needed much more attention then I was giving them. Eventually green little balls started forming on the branches and I was pumped! I could not wait to taste my first "homegrown" tomato. After the tomatoes grew more, it seemed that I waited forever for them to turn red. Day after day, I would come to the garden to see a red tomato, but instead it would be a big green one or maybe a hint of light yellow, but not red. Then the day came when the tomatoes were finally ready to come home and become my dinner. That was a glorious day. Of course a bunch of them turned red at the same time, and I barely could keep up with them. I ended up giving away most of my tomato stock. After the tomatoes started to turn red, the plants required more attention because I needed to get rid of the plants that weren't bearing good tomatoes and focus on the ones that were. Any that weren't didn't make the cut....wait they did make the "cut" actually. I cut away the bad branches and kept the good. This act of pruning was a glaring reminder of chapter 15 in the gospel of John. Jesus speaks of God being the gardener and how he puts so much focus onto the plant and makes sure that it is bearing good fruit. It most definitely brought me to a deeper understanding of the gardener analogy. Any pruning I was doing as the gardener was for the benefit of the plant. I knew that if I pruned away the branches that weren't bearing fruit, the bearing fruit branches would do all the better.

Towards the end of the garden, the tomato plants became too much for me. I eventually let them do whatever they wanted and would just pick the tomatoes that happened to turn out. I ran out of patience and focused on some of the other plants. I am so glad that God doesn't run out of patience for us, and keeps working with us to see us bear the best fruit.

"I am the vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." -Jesus

Garden IV : First Fruits

After the devestation of the flood, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to receive vegetables from my community garden plot. Then it happened, on a beautiful day sometime in June, I was given the gift of my first vegetables. At this point I wish I wasn't writing this down, but actually sitting with whoever decides to read this. I wish we were sitting in my living room and you could see the twinkle in my eye, and the excitement that seeps through my pores when I talk about the day of first fruits! It was glorious.

Everyone in the garden loved it when they got their first vegetables because it meant that they did something right. That all the hauling of water, churning of dirt, planting seeds, and picking weeds had paid off. This was a time of celebration. Leigh, Howard, and Dave all called me over to their gardens and showed me the first vegetables coming in. I remember Dave pulled me aside and like a proud parent showed me his eggplant. You see, this was the first summer he attempted eggplant and it was paying off! Leigh showed me all of her green beans, and broccoli. Howard showed me this crazy hybrid tomato that he claimed he had created. He said, and I quote, "Dave all I did was set the two plants next to each other, gave them a beer, and turned out the lights. The next morning I had 'Star Kiss' ". He deemed the tomato "star kiss" because supposedly each tomato had a star at the bottom of it. Howard was the romantic. My first vegetables were one green pepper (which by the way I only got one green pepper out of the summer, but it was tasty.), and a couple of onions. Great, Great, Great!! ( this is me trying to show the excitement)

It was really nice to see everyone's starting vegetables and seeing the proud "parents", but I haven't told you the best part about the first fruits. It was the sharing!!! Everyone wanted everyone else to try their vegetables. One afternoon Dave came over to my garden, shirtless as usually, and he had in his hand a freshly picked jalapeno, and a huge cherry tomato. He had me eat the cherry tomato right there in front of him, so I could say how good it was. Let me tell you it was good. (Blair, if you are reading this I think you were there for this one, and I'm pretty sure you had a bite of that tasty cherry tomato). That was one of my favorite memories, beause it made me realize the gifts that God has given us, and how we can take delight in the sharing of them. I also took the jalapeno home, and it immediately went into some chip dip that my other roommate Kyle was making. (more sharing!) As you can see in the picture above, those three vegetables were my first prize. That green pepper lasted all of 5 minutes after coming home. Blair quick snapped a couple of photos, and then he and I split it. Crisp and Delicious.

Those couple of days I learned what it meant to share within a community. Honestly this summer in the garden was really about the people in the garden teaching me what community was like. I was to learn many more lessons about community and life in the garden. After all, these were just the first fruits....

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.