Mary, Mary...

After the last abysmal community garden attempt, I promised the Little Man a pitiful pot of herbs for his window. He carefully picked his plants at the Green Market and had a lovely time putting them in his box. We also planted some seeds, and he dutifully spritzes it all every day (um, a couple of times a day...)



So, well, come to find out, you can take the child out of Kansas, but you can't take the Kansas out of the child. Its in his genes. (Or is he simply smitten since digging in the dirt isn't a daily option around here ? I remember weeding with my mother as a serious chore (so does E) but P will pick weeds for hours if given the chance...) Many, many times has the Little Man mentioned his desperation to grow something green, thus making me desperate to somehow fulfill this dream... while living four flours up...

Our dimly lit and tremendously tiny fire escape doesn't help when the word "harvest" is bantered about. (Not to mention the anxiety involved when you combine a small child, old iron and forty feet of air.) Remembering the kid's glee last summer in his homeschool plot, I started hunting for a spot nearby ("harvest" sounds unhappy when hooked to "long commute"). The search seemed a bust, even ending in tears (of frustration - um, mine...) after our seeming "last chance" didn't pan out (nothing like a very long garden meeting and orientation session that produces no plots, no ability to plant and lots and lots of rules.) And then, just before midnight on the eve of the joining deadline, Serendipity showed me St. Mark's Community Garden.

Honestly, after a number of garden mismatches this Spring, I was wary on our long scoot yesterday morning to our orientation session. Despite my apprehensions, I dared to dream it would be everything the kid has been yearning for; a place to grow, both greens and a community. And this garden, thank gawd, didn't disappoint.

Its a schelp, but totally scootable. And laid back. And lovely. And there's going to be a kid's plot. With special kid meeting times. And though there are no open private plots (we're on a waiting list!) there's five community vegetable plots and lots of perennial plots for planting. So we're good to go on the grow front.

The community bit was even better than I'd hoped, too. You know how the kid loves to chat with the taller sort, but typically, the taller sort are too busy for the short set. They have jobs and kids of their own and lots of stuff to do (don't I know it!) But there, in the garden, green-thumbs were giddy to show my curious kid around. When he named plants and excitedly tried the various greens they offered his mouth, friendships were sealed.

So, we toured, then weeded, then picked up sticks, then weeded some more, then chatted, then dug, then weeded some more :) The kid was so freaking happy to dig down in the dirt, to pull things up and out and look at them. Most of all, he was happy to collect. Leaves that were funny shapes or fuzzy, broken bamboo pieces, pointy sticks, stacks of cut sage. You name it, he "harvested" it.

And unlike some garden spaces, where the the Little Man isn't comfy and doesn't want to leave my side, he felt safe there. Fulfilling my third hope for the garden; that the kid could just be a kid there. That he'd have a place to really run free. Cuz there's not too much of that possible, here in NYC. He has no yard in which to while away his summer solo. No idyllic neighborhood to cruise with a posse of peers. Even the sidewalks are hectic, the streets, harrowing. The bottom line is, he has to stay close and alert when he's outside of his house. But inside this gated oasis, he can run free. That's some seriously sublime shit.

Within twenty minutes, I knew this garden would meet our needs. He had greens to pick, dirt to dig and adult interaction. There was more, though. The garden also gave the kid other kids. Hoping beyond hope that this meeting wouldn't involve "the reading of the minutes" and "bullet points" like our previous garden forays, I was thrilled to see so many other kids stirring mulch and running amok when we arrived. Of course, the Little Man didn't even seem to notice their existence for the first few hours ;) But, eventually, when the garden started to clear and a little boy ran over to watch us weed, P started chatting. Then another kid joined us. Soon, they were racing around together red cheeked and happy. Wait, there's more. Turns out, they were homeschoolers too. Seriously!

P and I went to the meeting in the morning hoping to get our key, planning on a quick tour, a reading of rules and maybe a little mulch mucking. Hours and hours later, after community pizza and lots of gardening and play, the child had no interest in leaving, ever :) Fortunately, with our own key, we can go dig, plant and harvest anytime the kid wants. Which is nice, since I'm not sure how long his herb garden can hold up under all of this love filled spritzing...