I honestly don't have time to type but I'm compelled to share this... you know I'm in the "Seedfolks" camp of community gardeners.
Yesterday was a lovely cool and breezy day here in Atlanta. I had the truck and trailer and was hopping from one Community Garden to another just for plowing. With the big BCS tiller, flail mower and rotary plow. Early in the afternoon I arrived at the here-unnamed Senior Tower CG, one of my favorites and on every tour I give so if you've been to visit you've seen it. The garden is quite lovely and completely free of ornamentation - no frilly fences, arbors, benches or borders. Two of the gardeners came (hobbled) out to chitty chat, give me some sage advice and offer a bottle of water. One lady had put a bit of wire around her asparagus so I wouldn't plow it up, which I thanked her for and mentioned that I remembered the asparagus and how nice it was last year. This garden is laid out in 35 foot long wide-rows and is about 220 feet long the other way. I had a couple rows in the front that I had to plow on the 35' length but then I broke into the open and started plowing cross-hatch. One row was quite a bit more ragged and overgrown than the others, with mint, lamb's ears, butter cups, and some other flowers mixed in with the weeds. I told the ladies I would avoid the big patch of lamb's ears and some of the mint but I would have to mow and plow the other stuff, it was too far gone with weeds to save. They said that was OK because that gardener had gotten an infection in her eye, had the eye removed but too late because by then the infection had gone into her brain and she died. Then I started plowing again. At first that one row stood out from all the rest of the garden but with each pass there was a little less of it. Every time I cut through I had the oddest sense of erasing her. Tillers move slowly and since the row was 35' long I had to cross it 11 times. Lots of time to think, and every time I felt that eraser feeling. When I was done she was gone, except for that one little patch of lamb's ears. I was feeling pretty sentimental by that time, but then I looked over at the alive gardeners talking and laughing and eager for spring and thought to myself, "don't be so morbid you idiot - pray for the dead and plow like hell for the living" (to misquote Mother Jones). fgc Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this e-mail message is legally privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or copy of this e-mail message and attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please delete it in its entirety. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20130321/917d581e/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
