Provision

Growing your own

Since my friend and I broke up, I no longer have access to his garden. I could probably text him and ask for some tomatoes an whatnot. He’d give it, but I’m not going to do that - clean break and all.

But guess what! Just a couple of blocks from me there’s a lot that I didn’t notice until a few weeks ago. It happens that there are a number of “vacant” overgrown lots around here and I tend to avoid them. I was driving by this one and saw that it wasn’t so vacant. It’s a gardening club.

A couple of days after I first noticed the lot, I stopped by to see if I could go inside and the gate was unlocked. There was a lady - Amy - tending to her charges and introduced myself. Amy was very nice and told me how to apply and so I’m waiting for a return email.

I think the tree is a lime tree. Next time I go over there, I’ll get shots of the two huge zucchini bushes. I love zucchini.

All along my street there at least a half dozen fruit trees, including two grapefruit trees whose fruit goes to waste every year. I had been trying to thing of a good trade to make with those neighbors - grapefruit is medicine. Maybe next year, I’ll have something to offer.

I love watching things grow and discovered that causing things to grow is even more rewarding.

I have only one house plant - a rhododendron (I think). It’s 15 years old and it was a tiny, two-leaf gift to my late Aunt Alma when she was in a nursing home. I managed to hold onto it between losing my house and being homeless. It almost died about seven years ago, but I grabbed two stems and stuck them in water. One stem died, but the other sprouted two leaves, so I got it some new soil, replanted it, and, boy, did it take. I’ve had to cut it back twice since then and I can see that time coming again. I put diatomaceous earth in the soil whenever gnats decide to come around.

It went with me when I drove to Kentucky in 2018 to see my beloved’s memorial.

I guess it’s almost as good as having a pet, but I look forward to the day when I live in a place where I can start my old lady cat collection.

It’s time to glow up. Both in and out.

UPDATE: Nearby grapefruit tree.