The Day I Got a Taste of Community Garden Spirit

It's a rainy Monday, April 16, in southwest Connecticut. Are we done with the cold yet? While I wait for the temperature to warm, I want to share the community garden spirit I have encountered at Greenwich Community Gardens. 

• Community gardeners eagerly share tips and techniques about their vegetable gardens -- square-foot gardening, cold frames, crops, timing. For this newbie, sharing and learning represent the community spirit I hoped to find.

• Community gardeners are invariably helpful, whether showing me where to find the common tools or how to lay out my garden plot or how to use the magnetic gate latch. Because people have such varied schedules, I may meet several people or no one at the community garden. So far I've introduced myself to five people. As the season picks up, I'll probably meet a dozen a day. 

• Community gardeners use all sorts of layouts for the gardens. I decided to break up my 4x8-foot plot into 12 blocks. PJ and I strung out the garden -- literally using string -- into three blocks by four blocks. Each block is 16 inches wide and 24 inches long. My success this year will determine whether I stick next with 12 blocks next year or adopt the square-foot model that densely packs the vegetable garden into 32 square-foot blocks. (One fellow takes an ad hoc approach: He throws seeds around his plot and waits to see what grows and especially what thrives.)

PJ Morello (above)
and Diane Tunick Morello (below)
spread topsoil over the strung-out plot

• Community gardeners lay fresh topsoil over the garden before planting. Oops! I had already strung out the plot and planted four seedling types. (See The Day I Planted Sprouts and Seedlings.) With only a little grumbling, we went back to the pile of topsoil and added it to the plot, careful not to dislodge the seedlings and string. I'll do better next year.  

• Community gardeners pitch in. Like other gardeners, I am expected to fulfill at least 10 hours of community garden service during the year. On April 21, for example, community gardeners are expected to get the community into shape. Each of us must work at least a two-hour shift to help with cleaning, repairing, fixing, beautifying and raking. I'm up for 10am to noon.

By summer I'll be eating organic vegetables from my Bible Street community garden while enjoying herbs, flowers and annuals in my back yard at home. What could be better? So tell me, How is your garden shaping up?