The Day I Launched My First Community Garden

Hello to you! It's Monday, April 2, 2018. Unbelievably, it's snowing again in Greenwich, Connecticut. My name is Diane Tunick Morello, and I am a brand-new community gardener, a writer and a photographer. This year I aim to grow vegetables in a sustainable community garden, and I hope you will join me as we experiment and explore the progress, successes, failures, photographs and stories of community vegetable gardening. Camaraderie and learning are big goals for me. For you, too?

For years I grew vegetables in my shady garden, with anemic and disappointing results. This year I decided instead to reserve a plot in Greenwich Community Gardens where more than eighty like-minded neighbors will be planting their favorite vegetables and flowers. The community garden is spread across a sun-filled field, flanked by trees, in the Cos Cob neighborhood of Greenwich, protected by seven-foot fences and filled with more than ninety oblong plots of four by eight feet -- a perfect size for my beginner aspirations. The community garden opens April 21, 2018, and from then on it's a sprint to sow the seeds, do the transplants and master the timing of crops.

Today, as snow falls outside (hopefully the last time this spring),  I prep the first seeds for my community garden plot. I select five seed packets, open them carefully and begin the sprouting process. I lay out paper towels, soak them with water, and one packet at a time, disperse the seeds for two beefsteak tomato plants, one cherry tomato plant, a jalapeño pepper bush and a sweet red pepper bush. Seed packets of habanero chilies, butternut squash and beets remain unopened as I weigh whether to use precious gardening space for them.

I fold up the paper towels in small squares, making sure that I can see seeds through the towels so I can track progress. I label five sandwich bags with the seed type, its maker and the sprouting date. Each wet paper towel goes into its own plastic bags, and I lay out the sandwich bags in a plastic container and position them in the front window where the spring sun will warm them and prepare them. During the next few weeks I will range further and get fledgling plants for tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, patty pan squash and eggplant -- all of which my husband and I love.

Stick with me as the community garden experiment progresses. I'll be back at least once a week, probably more frequently once the community garden opens and the season begins in earnest.