The Day I Saw Green in My Community Garden Plot

Finally! The community garden is greening! On an overcast Sunday, May 6, I head over to the Bible Street branch of Greenwich Community Gardens in the woodsy neighborhood of Cos Cob in Greenwich, CT. I visited the garden last Thursday, and I quickly learned that visiting in full sun in the middle of the day is a no-no for me. (D'oh!) Today I do things differently. Spurred by the overcast sky, I pack coffee, cold water and my new camera, then go check on the plot.

As soon as I get to the garden, I know my whispers of "grow, little ones, grow" were heard. When I look around, I see green sprouting all over. My spirit rises. Seven gardeners (a first) rest on their knees using trowels, planting seeds and pushing soil. I introduce myself, chat and wander. Some people build trellises for beans, others plant basil, a few lay out arugula and others pick beautiful flowers from their plots.

I pull a carton from the trunk of my car. Inside it are Tavera bush bean seedlings from home, four tomato plants from Garden Education Center of Greenwich and a six-pack of sweet peppers and parsley greens acquired at the Armstrong Court plant sale. My job is to plant everything today.

My garden plot when
I arrive today

In my 8x4-foot plot, green is popping across three columns and four rows. In block 1-2 (foreground, center), the radishes thrive. In blocks 2-2 and 2-3 (second row, center and right), vegetable cuttings grown at home -- celery, bok choy, endive and scallions -- are getting taller. In block 4-2 (back row, center), Blue Lake bush beans are peeping out, looking strong. (For more on my garden layout, see "The Day I Checked the Progress of My Community Garden.") 


Let's talk tomatoes for a moment. Some people say it's too early to plant tomatoes. I check the weather through the last frost date (i.e., May 15) and see overnight temps of 50s and 60s, and only  one night possibly at 48 degrees. I think I am safe. I dig four deep holes at the back of the plot for four tomatoes -- Rutgers, Mortgage Lifter, Super Sweet Cherry and Honey Drop Cherry. I'll check them this week to determine whether I need to bury them more deeply. As an aside, my husband, PJ, is planting the same set of tomatoes in our yard at home, and through the season we plan to compare the progress of the tomatoes -- mine grown in full sun, his grown in our sun-dappled yard. We figure, with twice the plants, we can have twice the BLTs.

The back end of the plot (row 4) is in the foreground

In front of the tomatoes (blocks 3-1 through 3-3), I plant sweet peppers, Tavera bush beans and parsley. I borrow some wire contraptions for the tomatoes and the beans, replace the shovel and head back home -- a productive visit on a perfect overcast day. In an hour, the garden looks green. 

How is your community garden going? What are you planting?