A CHILD ’ S WORLD

While some, like me, were total beginners

who couldn’t tell a parsnip from a potato, oth- ers were enthusiastic veterans eager to share the space and their knowledge. Tey were bursting with recipes for their favorite exotic greens, and clever ideas about what to do with flax seed. Happily for me, my friend Jean had taken Master Gardener classes—she and I elected to work as a team to grow summer squash and, of course, cucumbers. (Our division of labor would eventually break down into me asking her, “Is this a weed?” before pulling up something green.) We also signed up to share a raised-bed miniplot, where we would plant and harvest whatever we liked.

In addition to maternal fantasies of Ethan

in overalls, gnawing on a hunk of kohlrabi, the idea of the project stirred my environmental conscience. I had just read Barbara Kingsolver’s

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

(HarperCollins, 2007), the bestselling account of her family’s efforts to eat only locally grown foods, and was anxious to see if I could help make my own family’s carbon footprint a size or two smaller. I was also giddy at the prospect of juicy, fresh-grown tomatoes that cost less than jewelry.

Above, from top:

Making friends with the garden’s unscary scarecrow; Krista hunts for ripe tomatoes; mixing organic mud pies

Right: Ethan and Hannah head to the greenhouse.

Opposite: Communication via community garden whiteboard

Our first planning meeting was held midwinter, in the humid air of the city greenhouse, where we sat surrounded by Easter-lily starts. About 20 of us had gathered, from grad students to the gray-haired. As her own two young chil- dren played hide-and-seek around the potting tables, Krista Bailey, the founder of our garden, laid out the basics. She had arranged with the city for free use of the land, but each member would pay a small annual fee that would go toward basic supplies and necessities such as testing and amending the soil, and would work at least three hours a week—planting, weeding, watering. Each would be in charge of tending a particular crop throughout the growing season, using natural methods—such as apply- ing compost rather than chemical fertilizers. We would share equally in the harvest.

42 mothering | May–June 2010

As a startup project, our garden lacked any established program for educating children, as some community gardens have, but kids were always welcome. I made a point of bringing Ethan along while I logged in my hours. I’d love to report that he immediately exhibited a precocious interest in plant genetics and learned to relish the honest efforts of weed- ing. Instead, he oſten grew bored helping me stake up cucumber vines, and would wander over to the towering dirt pile and mess around Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109