I am not a gardener. I’ve told readers about my haphazard flower garden. And my one attempt at growing something failed miserably. It started well—the little plant that I received for Mother’s Day did well for quite a while. It got bigger and bigger and it was a lovely pure white. I kept peeling back its leaves to give it room and I looked forward to eating my own, homegrown cauliflower. Well, the gardeners among our readers know how this tale ends. One morning I woke up to find my lovely vegetable brown and shriveled in its pot. An Internet search informed me that I should not have been peeling back the leaves from my growing cauliflower. It needs the leaves to shelter it and retain water as it grows. Who knew?
So if the Grand Marais Park Board and the Northwoods Food Project succeed in establishing a garden at the Rec. Park campground, you won’t see my name on the sign-up list.
But I am certainly not opposed to the idea. In fact, I think it is a nice community project. For years, our seasonal visitors at the Rec. Park have wanted to have gardens at their campsites. It doesn’t make sense to have a number of little gardens scattered through the campground. But one nice big garden for everyone to share? I think that’s a terrific compromise.
I’m pleased that the Grand Marais Park Board is doing its job and asking questions about how this will work. I too, wonder if 8 – 10 garden plots will be enough to satisfy all the local gardeners without yards. And once a person has staked out her garden plot, I don’t think she will want to give it up the next season. So the park board or the food project folks will have to figure out a fair way to determine who gets to garden when.
I suppose there may be people who don’t think a vegetable garden is beautiful. And I suppose there are some that are not—my failed attempt was not pretty. But there is something very appealing about a well-tended garden. I don’t think a garden patch at the Rec. Park will offend anyone.
My one concern is that a garden won’t grow at the Rec. Park, so close to chilly Lake Superior. I’ve heard from talented gardeners that it is challenging to grow things near the Big Lake. So I wonder if there is a better location for the proposed community garden. Thecity owns some land up hill a bit— would that be a better spot? It wouldn’t be as visible and therefore perhaps not as welcoming to the general public, but it might be easier. But since I’m not a gardener, I really don’t know. Maybe if you have a strong enough green thumb, you can garden anywhere.
And I really do like the idea of the garden at the Rec. Park where I can watch it take shape. I frequently take walks through the Rec. Park, to the Sweetheart’s Bluff path. It would be fun to see the garden growing.
There are a lot of questions to be answered, but I think the park board and the food project can make this work. They certainly are not reinventing the wheel. When we lived in Germany in the late ’70s, there were numerous garden platz in Mannheim. It was interesting to ride the streetcar and watch people tending crops, right in the heart of the big city.
If they can make it work in an urban area, I’m sure it can be done here. As long as you keep me away from the cauliflower. It is utterly forbidden to be halfhearted
about gardening. You have
got to love your garden whether you
like it or not.
W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman,
Garden Rubbish, 1936
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