Contact Me

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Alley Garden

Someone is claiming a bit of dirt for plants.When I went to a lunch at a church nearby, two guys told me they had a garden outside their apartment window. Afterwards, I decided to see for myself. 

surprise garden in an alley

front view when I did not want to get out of the car

You can see they have opted for garden art along with the food plants. I wonder where they found the chunks of concrete for the border. One guy said that everything was growing well until the resident chipmunk dined one night and wiped out the plants. It looks like they have started over with the garden.

From the left
And, they have corn. I will have to check on the progress. Tomatoes and corn will be great this summer. The valiant plants are trying their best in adverse conditions. There are very small green tomatoes on the plants.
 

long view, garden far down on the right, the bit of green

This view is from the north, facing south. One day, when the sun is shining, I will check to see how much sun this garden gets. Not much, I believe. The garden sits at the back of a grocery store turned church. The apartment complex is on the left.
 
Growing in bleak conditions, this garden represents the spirit of people with little land to grow their own food. I wonder how many little, tucked-away gardens exist.  I am so lucky. This is about six blocks from my house, in an alley I use for a shortcut when I ramble and do not want to go the long way (around the block) home. I find lots of interesting things in alleys.
 
 
Your turn
 
Do you ever see little gardens, planted in conditions that most backyard gardeners would shun? 

14 comments:

  1. Isn't that cool? I really hope the garden flourishes. I love the way even in a concrete jungle a flower or plant can grow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LL Cool Joe,
    I thought it was cool. I plan to check on this often and maybe report again. Yes, just a bit of dirt and seeds and the spirit of someone who wants to grow something. Thankfully, there was some dirt left between the slabs of concrete.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is awesome. I love how you related this to the spirit of people. Hope, provision, and blessings. So awesome!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jennifer,
    I did see it as a tribute to the spirit of people doing what they could to help themselves and stay close to their little bit of earth. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've never seen a garden like that, but The Hurricane does worm composting on the landing outside her apartment. I'm not sure why she does it – maybe because she can post the pictures on Facebook and they make me feel a little sick to my stomach.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janie,
      Maybe she can garden in the perimeters around the apartment. I am not into worm composting pictures, either.

      Delete
    2. No, there's no place whatsoever to garden where she lives. I think she just plain enjoys the worms working away.

      Delete
    3. I suppose it is fascinating to see things disappear and become dirt. I see a developing business--fertilizer.

      Delete
    4. Ah, yes. She's quite the entrepreneur. In addition to going to graduate school, she works part-time, and for fun, makes jam and marmalade. She's not rowing crew currently, but in the past when her team had a fundraiser, she made jam to sell. People literally chased her to pay $8 for a tiny jar of jam.

      Delete
  6. Do you suppose that your area gets enough rain to support a garden without needing to water it by hand? EVERYTHING out here requires us to water. Here we receive less than 12 inches a year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt it will need anymore water than any garden here. This time of year, no one needs to water anything. We live in a rainforest. His garden is steps away from the apt door, so he can carry water to his garden in July or August if needed. That corn looked in need of water or something!

      Delete
    2. Janet,
      The two pots will have to be watered every day, so the guy will be out there to tend to them and give them water. I have to water my pots most days, but a container for water can be filled by the rain so I do not have to use the hose. I put a drop of Dawn in the rain water so mosquitoes do not breed.

      Delete
  7. I love it when people do the balcony gardens and around here the city gives city land to people to grow little gardens and in Toronto where it is very hot in summer, people plant on roof tops and they say it helps the weather somehow to have such things.
    The alley garden is a good idea but the soil looks rough.
    Better to put it into pots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, environmentalists say that gardens on the roof help to cool things down. It helps people to be amongst even a bit of green.

      This is their first year to do this, so they may change their methods. Two plants are in pots, thankfully.

      Delete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.