My shadow is left behind for a moment in my neighborhood P-Patch like the gardens I leave behind in yards when I move away. As the years pass, I dig, plant and weed on other people's land. I often fret at this time of year, "Should I do it again, put forth all that effort, those seeds, the energy and time this Spring?"
In February, I dream of wildly descriptive vegetable names, zebra tomatoes, carnival blend multi-colored carrots, sugar baby watermelon or bull's blood red beets. By mid-March, I risk planting our sugar snap peas in the ground. Once April rolls around, I open envelopes of seeds saved from last year and the cycle begins again. I may live in a rental and question the work I put into the plot each season, but after reading Farm City : The Education of an Urban Farmer, I know that is what I do. Beautifully described in her book, Novella Carpenter created an entire farm on an abandoned lot in Oakland, CA where she raised veggies for her neighborhood, honeybees, a turkey, rabbits and pigs. After reading such an inspiring tale, I am even more motivated to turn under this green goodness of winter cover crop into the soil for another season of planting in a garden that I will eventually leave behind. I promise yet again to grow a bit of our family's sustenance.
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