On March 31, two employees who had been campaigning for a community garden for our office got the OK from our publisher and our garden was born. Initially about 30 people signed on to help create the garden, but as with all worthy projects, the number who’ve actually spent significant energy on the project is much smaller. The really cool thing about it, though, is that people helped out when they could help out, and somehow it all got done.
This is some of what the garden committee (of which I have been a nominal member – meaning, I watered once, weeded once and have done a lot of cheerleading) planted:
Giant Sunflowers
Kentucky Wonder beans
Dill
Cosmos (lovely chocolate-brown ones)
Popcorn
Country Gentleman Sweet CornÂ
Yellow Onion
Pole beans ‘Greasy Grits’
Bush BeanBean ‘Blue Lake’
Basil – ‘Herb Fine Verde’ (Which I hadn’t heard of before)
Plus a variety of lettuces, herbs – and flowers, to give the garden curb appeal. The curb appeal thing is definitely working. I frequently see people slow down and give the garden a good once-over. I figure at some point we’ll lose a few vegetables to passersby, though this isn’t much of a pedestrian area. But even if we do, the project has been fabulous and the result is simply wonderful. I think now that we’ve had an experimental first year, we’ll regroup and do some perennials, too.
One of the best parts is that we now will have fresh herbs and flowers – free for the picking – for our vases here in the office for the rest of the season. (See example from my very own desk over to the left there.)
And I absolutely love that in just a few weeks we’ve transformed this somewhat sterile, boring patch of lawn into this lovely, juicy, lively and fertile little plot of Creation. Priceless.