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lucillle

A 'Garden Raising'

lucillle
9 years ago

My son's gf recently moved into a house she is sharing with several other women in a downtown Houston area just beginning to be gentrified. She wants a vegetable garden and it is fine with her landlord, so in two weeks she is going to have a 'garden raising' party, inviting friends to help create the new garden.
She is providing lunch for everyone and is also inviting her artist friends (she is an artist) to bring their paints and paint if they wish. I may go and do what I can, I have already given a bunch of seeds and tomato and pepper plants.

I think this is a grand idea. Like the old fashioned 'barn raisings', a combined effort will help get the garden started in the company of friends, food and conversation.

It is my experience that gardening is very much an ongoing effort, not a 'once and done' effort, but this sounds like a fun way to start out.

Comments (6)

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    9 years ago

    I think it's a great idea, especially for breaking new ground! That's back-breaking work, for sure. Too bad Texas is so far away!

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    9 years ago

    Too bad we don't have a "like button" I would click it!

    That is great! And it will probably make some of her friends get interested in gardening!

    Exposure makes a lot of difference in peoples attitude about gardening.

    I have brought a lot of people in to the gardening world by exposure.

    I have invited friends and co-workers to come help me harvest my extra veggies from my garden to take home with them instead of picking the veggies and carrying it to them.

    After the "hands on" they started growing their own!

    It has caused me some extra work the last few years, but I don't mind. Most of them don't have a way to till their soil so I load up my tiller and go help them.

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Wertach you sound like a wonderful garden emissary as well as a good person for doing all those extra things to help.
    I am hoping that as you say exposure will help promote a positive outlook for these youngsters toward gardening. Not only is gardening a healthy, joyful pursuit, but a lot of the people on her invite list are the traditional 'starving artists' and even a small garden if well taken care of can make a difference, with fresh veggies available to them that they might not always be able to buy.

    This post was edited by lucille on Wed, Apr 16, 14 at 17:05

  • gardenper
    9 years ago

    I think she could extend the "bring a plant" idea and instead of just bringing plants for her garden, her friends and family can bring plants to trade with each other also.

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That's a good idea but I think most are coming to help with the work. I think some of them are her good friends but not gardeners.
    But I will make a point of suggesting a plant trade party for next year. (Hopefully dear son will have proposed by then, this gf is a keeper).

  • nancyjane_gardener
    9 years ago

    LOL Many moons ago, my BIL wanted to have a rugby club party at our 5 acre place (they were city folk)
    We thought this would be a great opportunity for some strong young men to help us dig our garden area!
    We put the keg at the far end of the garden area and a bunch of shovels at the gate with instructions to dig their way to the keg.
    What we ended up with was a trompled down path from the gate to the keg!
    Don't include beer, but food might be a better incentive ......or beer AFTER the garden is done! ;) Nancy