Mobile Gardening

At 4:30 yesterday my tooth, which had just been capped in a torturous experience that involved failures from start to finish, was pounding with pain. My plan to finish my big project was foiled by a simple document transfer that couldn't be completed. And my heart just wasn't into starting anything fresh. So it seemed like a good idea to leave the office and head over to the community garden for a look-see. Traffic and walking the dog, slowed me down. But I arrived with my garden bag packed with tools and a trash bag only to find I really didn't have a clue where to start.

Hi! I called out to the others, who had all arrived with the hoes and leaf mulch and burlap bags and wheel barrows and stakes and string to mark out their plots and dig in. My bag had a trowel and clippers, some twine, all of it perfect for weeding in my garden at home. I plunked my bag down in the middle of my plot and paced up and down, picking up the dirt and examining it, to look expert and gardener-like. I considered leaving to go get more stuff, but the time I had before Jim was due to arrive at the Metro station, made that idea a fool's errand. So then I wandered around to my plot neighbors. Hi, I tried again. That worked. Pretty soon, Anne and I, were chatting happily. Anne had been there for hours it seemed. Her plan was taking shape with paths and beds marked out with burlap. She knew my brother. She had good black gold she'd brought from home. She had a pen and paper.

A husband and wife team had also marked out their plot in triangles and made string boundaries. They were so engaged, they barely stopped to make a greeting.

Then, I saw my friend Kathy Jentz coming across the way, pulling her wheelbarrow filled with good stuff. Hi Kathy! Kathy had a quick and hasty plan and before long me and my twine were part of it. Then we were filling her wheelbarrow with mulch to mark out our plots. Then she lent me some stakes. And then we were talking about sharing the task of watering each others plots. And then I was hurrying because Jim called to say he was walking to the Metro. And then I felt like I had a plan.

And today, I have a list of what to bring for my next visit. 1. My wagon; 2. Small hoe or rake; 3. black fabric for the base of a path; 4. Four bags of leafgrow and two bags of garden soil; 5. some kind of border, either wood boards or tree limbs; 6. posts and string; 7. my bean pole, tomato cages and plant fencing; 9. an old chair or stool; 10. a bucket and a watering can.

But for now, I have to go to work. The Putterer