The Community Garden

Transcript

1. The garden began as an empty lot full of broken concrete.
2. Six neighbors cleared it over two summers with borrowed tools.
3. Nobody owns a plot exactly, but everyone knows whose is whose.
4. The rules fit on one page nailed to the gate.
5. Water before nine or after six, and never leave the hose running.
6. Tomatoes take up half the space, because tomatoes always do.
7. One corner grows herbs that anybody may cut.
8. The compost bins caused more arguments than anything else.
9. That was settled by a schedule and one very patient retired teacher.
10. Children are welcome, though the berry bushes suffer for it.
11. In August there is more food than the gardeners can eat.
12. The extra goes to the food bank on Wilson Road.
13. Winter is quiet, and the beds sit under old carpet and leaves.
14. Planning for spring starts in February around somebody's kitchen table.
15. The garden survives because the work is shared and visible.