I bought a house (my first house– yea, strong independent women buying their own houses!) in November, moved in December 6th, and am now getting to, for the very first time, build a garden that is mine… Now, the “for the first time” is sort of a misnomer, because I have actually built gardens in every place I’ve lived since my sophomore year of college– when I was out of the dorms and living in rental houses… Generally without any permission of a landlord, I dug up a little space (or a big space– especially in the case of the 15×15 plot of kale I once grew in a front yard of a house I rented) and planted my little seeds… But, knowing my time at any of those spots would be temporary– a few years at the very most– and because I was always a little worried about getting in trouble for it, I was never totally invested. No doubt I left all of those places prettier than I found them (including planting bulbs and some nice perennials)– maybe it was my first active community gardening, leaving a trail of plantings as I moved around Ann Arbor and then Ypsilanti.

And, of course I have built gardens. Growing Hope in the last five years (before we incorporated and it was even called Growing Hope) has helped to build 11 gardens– and I’ve been a part of every one, if not the lead… Actually, as of yesterday, it’s now 12 gardens– plus five school greenhouses we’re in the middle of constructing. Yesterday we took up the sod for a 50 by 80 foot community garden behind a middle school…
So, I’ve built my share of gardens– just not in my own house, in my own yard…

Back to the present day. My little house is on a nice size lot, and I have the most wonderful (and GIANT) lilacs in the back. They are getting ready to flush and to flower, and the display is going to be incredible…

I’ll try to document every week until they bloom and post periodically for full effect. In the front some snow drops and miniature irises have come up, and some tulips look like they may show their heads– lots of shade, not too exciting– this fall I’ll have to really dig in with the bulbs… Anyway, besides the lilacs, the backyard is the treat. Behind my garage is full sun. I had a giant pile of assorted brush and cuttings of who knows what (6 feet tall, 8 feet wide at least), lots of trash and shingles from the botch job done redoing the garage roof, before I owned the house…. brushpile.jpg

Last night I decided to be creative and make use of the materials on hand, and constructed a very cute little zig zag fence, using only the sticks in the pile.

This morning I set to work and broke ground– spending all day with the pitchfork removing the sod and readying the soil… Friends stopped by to visit as I worked away, determined to, as is part of my core, make something out of nothing. That’s why I live building community & school gardens– it’s about bringing the potential to life. About 7 pm I put the first seeds in the ground– and, a lot of them at that– mesclun mix, cilantro, peas, radishes, chard, beets, parsley, spinach…. I don’t do anything in moderation, clearly. At 8 pm (and it was still light out!!!!) I hooked up the hose and gave it its first drink… Satisfaction…