We went back to our old community garden (as we do every Christmas, when we go to visit the in-laws), which is really where I learned how to garden. It’s been a crushing though eye-opening experience, to see how all my efforts aged there. They did not age well, all the invasive aggressive species have come back with a vengeance, and outcompeted so many forbs… perennial flowers, no sign of even dead stems. The herb beds have melted away. Before we moved, I tried to teach or train anyone who would listen, but there weren’t any takers. It’s amazing how quickly it has lost biodiversity. The trees and shrubs we planted, most are doing fine, though some of the fruit trees could use some TLC.  One of the original grape vines is doing well, no sign of the others. The garden beds are falling apart, and it looked like only one of the many plots had even been gardened it. It’s a hard space to work, it’s so freaking hot in summer, there’s no water line, and there’s tons of mosquitoes in the area. But it’s always had so much potential, and it still does. It’s disheartening that few people have stepped up, right now it’s barely maintained. The hardest part of community gardening is definitely the ‘community’ part.

V and I have talked it over, we REALLY want to visit when it is spring there, when the fruit trees are flowering. And we want to label things, mostly the fruit trees that we planted. Nothing is labeled there anymore, it all looks pretty abandoned except for the children’s sandbox area next to the small pavilion. There were originally 4 people who really threw themselves into this project, us and M+R. We moved away, and M+R are busy with kids and jobs and lives. It’s only E, who is not a Plant Person but who brings in large volunteer groups to work on big projects, who is left holding the torch. 

On the one hand - green. On the other hand, these are all invasive species that have taken over the understory. ALL the groundcovers in sunny areas looked like this. No more clover, that we spent years establishing… no signs of many flowers and herbs I’d planted, even tough things like Bee Balm and Lemon Balm.

All of our knowledge, about what plants are where, is just… missing. Plant labels are hard, we’ve actually gone through multiple iterations at this place. We don’t live here anymore, other people will have to step up to help this place realize its full potential. It’s 7.5 acres of food forest and community garden, and more than a little guerrilla gardening. But we still help out how we can. I actually just updated the original google sites page that I created back in 2011, so it’s vaguely pertinent. 

The big tree branch that V is looking at? It’s a ‘Belle of Georgia’ peach and it has produced the best damn peaches I’ve ever eaten in my life.

There was a giant mulch pile at the entrance that we both kept eyeing. We could knock that out in no time. I’m a lot stronger now and we’ve been gardening together as a team for 10 years. It seems ridiculous on the one hand to drive across state lines to do volunteer physical labor for a community space we no longer occupy. On the other hand, we’ve poured thousands of hours into this space, and we love it deeply. We planted our first tree here together! It’s doing really well.

Bat house fell off the tree when the wood rotted. To our knowledge, we were never able to convince any bats to occupy it. It was not cheap. The bird houses that were bought around this time (2011/2012) are long gone. It’s hard to build things that last.