Morning rush-hour
My brother Jordan commutes to work on a Huffy beach cruiser. He brings a small truckload of gardening tools with him, artfully strapped to his bike with bungee cords. I rode along with him the other day as an assistant to see his professional skills in action, and also to help prepare a secret garden plot that he had discovered in North Berkeley.
green machine
The assistant's vehicle
When we arrived at the “squatter’s garden”, I unloaded the tools that I had brought in my large yellow bag and checked out our little plot. Jordan figured that it had not been planted in at least three years, and it was full of overgrown weeds and random trash. Since a gas-powered rototiller doesn’t transport well on a beach cruiser (or a Mexican track bike), we would be breaking up the soil by hand, with shovels. It was time for me to find out that gardening is no picnic.
the squatter's garden before...
...and after
Adding soil
Making rows
Evening commute
Great photo-led walk into a squatters’ secret garden and those who have the imagination and garden-savvy to bring a place of sleeping dreams into productive gift-giving. Hoag is a brilliant and gentle story teller, letting us in on the places and doings of real people who travel in a unique way through this world.
Thanks Moon! Hopefully the gift-giving of this garden comes a little early, I’m hankering for that kale…