One of last years biggest beets, and a not so big one

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Community Gardens and Grandmas

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Spring is quickly approaching. You know what that means? Time for gardening season!!! My city has a relatively large and successful community garden program that I participate in. There are nearly 400 individual garden plots available for willing gardeners to rent for the year. The program has a sliding fee scale so that people with lower or fixed incomes pay less than those with greater income. The plots are divided up between ten different community garden sites spread throughout town. In addition to this, the organization that runs this program (Garden City Harvest) also has community gardens at local schools to supplement their lunches and vegetable farms in town that are used to help affordably provide fresh local produce for our community.

My Community-Gardening Origin Story...

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I got involved with my cities community garden project in 2013. In 2012 I had an extremely difficult year attributed to my ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn’s disease. I had to quit my job at the time, leave school, apply for disability and was bedridden on and off for most of the year. As my physical health eventually started to stabilize, my mental health lagged behind. When you lose months or years of your life at a time, it can be hard to get back into the groove of things when you are suddenly able-bodied (more or less) again. My partner, Kim, noticing I was really struggling to pick my self up after this particular flare-up, decided to sign me up for a community garden plot. At first, I was terrified at the prospect. We had both gardened before back when we had the space and I knew a bit about gardening. But, my body had been acting so unpredictably for so long that I shuddered at the thought of starting anything new. I was already convinced that regardless of what it was, I would fail. It turned out that when it came to community gardening, I didn’t fail and when I had bad days, there were great people around to help me succeed. It played a major role in bringing positivity back in to my life and helping me to recover from the challenges of the previous year. That was 5 years ago. I continue to return every year and am now on the leadership committee for our neighborhood garden space.

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First day of last season

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My Gardening Origin Story...

Not only is gardening of paramount importance to me physically and mentally, it also is culturally. My family, on my dad’s side, were farmers going back many generations since before they emigrated to the United States. My grandfather was the first in his line to not be a career farmer. After serving in the Air Force, he became a butcher and continued that work until he retired. Him and my grandmother (who also came from a farming family) still had a small family farm that they tended in addition to their day jobs. It wasn’t much. Some chickens, a couple of horses, a cow for milking and a very impressive vegetable garden. I spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s house as a child and I have many memories of helping my grandmother tend the garden. Memories of picking fresh snap peas in the hot sun and eating them right on the spot. Sometimes I would crack them open, examining their small spherical insides before scooping them into my mouth. I still remember the smell of the earth and feel the mist of the sprinkler hitting me in the face. It was always a treat to help my grandma in the garden. I felt like, despite being a small child, that I was really doing something. I was really helping. And the help I provided would feed my family. It was a very empowering act as a child. It still is.

We would always have a plethora of goods that had been harvested that fall at every holiday meal. Pumpkin pie, spiced beets, garden relish, green beans, jams and jellies. My grandmother would always talk during the meal about how much pectin she added to the jelly or what spices she added when canning the beets. Making sure everyone knew the work that went into the foods that we ate. It’s only now, that her and my grandfather are gone, that I realize how important all of these little bits that she shared were. Admittedly, I don’t remember the exact recipes and methods as she shared them around the kitchen table, but what I do remember, is a woman who knew food completely. She knew it from the moment the soil was tilled right up to the moment it became a part of the people that she loved. And that is a process that really stuck with me. It was evident in those little tableside instructions that she felt it was important for her children and grandchildren to know how to do these things; how to grow food and keep it so it can be shared with others. So, when I work in the garden and harvest and process my own food and use it to feed the people I love, I honor my grandmother and all the things she shared with me.

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Grandma Hattie.

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It is still too early in the year to have any good photos of the garden this season, so here are a few from last year to hold you over…

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Another one from first day last season

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Kim forgot her gloves

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Later in the season...Brassicas

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Our neighbors asparagus. Asparagus is a fern-like perennial bulb that you must grow for three years before the first time you can harvest it. This batch is in its 2nd year in this photo

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Brussels sprouts, anyone?

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Me and Kim watering the garden

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All photos by veckinon

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Thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed.

Best wishes,
@veckinon