Grand Opening

Yesterday, Hagerstown held its Arbor Day celebration/Community Garden grand opening. I was there. It was fun. The weather here yesterday was cold and slightly breezy, not warm enough yet to plant those tomato and pepper plants we were given. I met a few more of my fellow gardeners, including a very nice and outgoing lady who just got back from a month-long trip to China.

The local paper has an article about it that is chock full of errors, but there it is nonetheless. (Just a sample of the errors: there are 26 beds, not 24; beds cost $20 or $30, depending on size; and they aren't flower beds, in fact we plot holders are restricted as to how many flowers we can plant). No, I'm not in any of the pictures.

My plants are all coming up and need thinning. Once the weather warms up more I'll actually be able to do that without my fingers going numb after thinning just four rows of radishes.

Community

The community garden is now open! Today is supposed to be a lovely day, and much rain will be following in the next few days, so today I will be going over and doing the first round of planting. Seeds to be planted today are: turnips, spinach, swiss chard, radish, cabbage, beet, and carrot.

Saturday was the orientation meeting for all the gardeners. Despite that morning being cold and windy, most people were able to show up. Such a rare sight in Hagerstown: so many people in one place, happy and optimistic, chatting with strangers, sharing tips, ideas, suggestions. I really believe that this community garden site will only be the first of many throughout the city. We're building a community in this city, at last.

The Season Begins

     The weather in Hagerstown is finally warming up, the snow has nearly all melted and the ground is working on thawing. So, I spent yesterday afternoon planting peas. My hands ended up covered in sticky, cold, black dirt. My pants were soaked from kneeling in the boggy grass. It was liberating.