enLIGHTEN UP

Last week, last Saturday to be exact, we got it into our heads to work on the backyard a bit.  When we first moved into this place the teeny tiny yard was a mess, and not just a weedy one.  There were old 5 gallon buckets and milk cartons by the dozen, random broken bits of fencing and anything else the scrappy tenants before us though they could use to support vines, bits of rubble, and lots and lots of broken glass.  The old tenants were a bunch of young hippies, of the patchouli-smelling kind.  They worked at the local coop and tried to grow their own food. They kept a compost bin and compost pile, they amended and cleared the soil in one corner of the yard at least.  But they did it all with no sense of cleanliness, order, or style.  Nothing offends me more than ugliness.

I grew up Catholic, but if someone asked me to define my religion, I'd have to call myself an aestheticist; not that that's a real religion or anything, but it is as close as I can muster.

So last year I cleared and defined the space, laying a thick layer of cardboard and mulch over any area that was not meant for growing plants or food.  It was fine as a temporary fix, but really, thick mulch is not terribly pleasant as a garden surface.  A year later I raked away all the mulch ( the cardboard had long since disintegrated) revealing a rich black-brown soil.  I threw more composted manure on this newly cleared 10x12' patch and prepped it to receive a lawn.  We got sod from the nursery and laid it in.  I love sod.  I love how instantly it transforms a space.  I love how the clean green is the perfect negative space for the riot that will be the rest of the garden.  I know that the way sod is grown is not sustainable, but I also know that with a dog and child, I never would have been able to be successful with seed.

The next day in a spurt of backyard enthusiasm, we went to the Home Despot and got a bar-b-cue. I was thrilled to find that they had reed fencing.  I was going to bit the bullet and order it from Gardener's Supply company, but the shipping cost being almost as high as the cost of the fencing itself kept me from doing it.  I'm so glad I didn't.  I got enough reed fencing to screen the neighbors for less than half of what it would have cost me to order.  hypersteve  & I installed it in a couple of hours, set up the bar-b-cue, and called over a few friends.  Having people we love in the cozy backyard made us happier than anything else we've experienced in this apartment.  It actually started to feel a little like home.

I'm writing this from Steve's computer, but the next time I get to my laptop I'll have to post before and after pictures.

As if that wasn't enough garden goodness, I volunteered at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Thursday ( a regular thing that I started a couple of weeks ago).  For nearly three hours I mulched a large garden bed - the asteraceae bed for anyone who'd interested.  That involved throwing forkfuls of fresh much from the V truck to the garden.  I got an amazing workout out of it.  My arms felt good and tired afterwards and I could feel my abdominals.  It's a good thing too since I've done almost no exercise this pregnancy.  I can do stuff like that for hours and not get tired.  A few years ago when I worked for the Parks Department and did it for several hours a day I was in great shape.  My arms and back were better defined than I had ever seen them.  I'd rather spend hours gardening any day, than have to go to the gym.  Not that I don't like the gym, I actually enjoy it a lot, but it's nothing like gardening.  When I pulled off my jeans later bits of mulch tumbled to the floor.  You know I've had a great day when that happens.

So despite the turmoil of this week, spending time getting dirty has kept me mostly sane.  The warmth and the sun didn't hurt either.

No I didn't get new kitchenware - I couldn't have used it anyway because the entire contents of our kitchen including things like, oh, the diswasher, are curently scattered all over the living room and hallway and will remin so until the new floor and cabinetry is complete. Which should be today. I hope.

Anyway, the melting pot I am so in love with is this grand city. I had a run in with some xenophobia recently which has left me super sensitive and especially appreciative of my block.  On my block are lots of people from Central and South America mainly Mexicans, Indians and Pakistanis, many Muslim people both from the Middle East and apparently Eastern Europe, African Americans and Africans, plus a handful of European-decended caucasians. On a nice day all the kids are out in the street plaving together.  There's a football game that has been runnig for days and all the smaller kids get out their scooters and bicycles.  On Saturday and Sunday their activity of choice?  Gardening.

I had decided to clean up the front stoop.  The previous tenants had a pickle and olive barrel garden.  Productive, yes, but it looked like a pile of garbage, especially since nothing has been growing in the pots since last fall.  I cleaned it up, discovered the garden bed that had been cut into the cement, and proceeeded to build a raised bed and another planter to go across the front.  Jacob kept me company and was plenty busy with the seed starting tray and the packets of seeds we had picked out earlier.

We drew a crowd.  Buy dinner time I had nine neighborhood kids from 4-13 years old and of nearly every ethnicity imaginable gathered around wanting to learn about seeds.  They all went home with a handful.  Then on Sunday Jacob and I were back out to do more planting.  In the meantime I have found a bunch of empty pots in the backyard and brought them out, knowing that many of the kids who wanted seeds had nowhere to put them.  Again, I had a crowd.  By the end of the day all the plants were in place, all the seeds had been planted in labeled pots, the half barrel that had been full of mud was cleaned out - we're putting in a fish pond!  My stoop was clean and the sidewalk was swept.  7 happy and slightly grubby kids went home at dinner time.  They all wanted to keep their pots on my stoop, so while I had originally wanted a clean , well designed and planted stoop area, it's back to being a jumble of pots, but an exeuberant happy jumble.

In between planting and slopping mud, we played a few rousing games of Red Light Green Light.  Jacob went to bed happier than I have seen in ages knowing that he has friends on his block.

And by the way, the parents, nowhere to be seen.  These kids are allowed to play on this end of the block, with the older kids keeping an eye on the younger ones.  That is refreshing freedom in this day and age when everyone is so worried (paranoid?) about crime.  

As for my own evil plans:  I have two three of them, so far, more to come I'm sure:  
1. Towards the south end of  the block there is a large planting bed in front of a parking lot.  The previous tenants cleaned it out and planted things like sunflowers and zinnias.  It's pretty trashy agI'm wondering if the neighborhood kids want to adopt it?  
2. We have tons of pots with moonflowers and morning glories planted, thanks to my weekend helpers.  If I can get a cheap source for planters, or find a cheap way to build lots of them, wouldn't it be lovely if lots of the houses on the block had vines growing up their stoops?  3. Finally, there's a house on the corner of the block that is vacant.  There is a 60' planting strip that now is filled with all manner of refuse.  While I don't want to clean out that nastiness, perhaps some morning glories and moonflowers can hide the worst of it so it stops being an eyesore.

I love warm weather!  I love gardening!  I love infecting others with the desire to grow stuff!