and it all started saturday the 13th...

well. that is not entirely true.


when i was little my nono gigi had a small plot of land behind the condominium building where he lived in north york. all of the italian nonos had plots of land out behind the building. a beautiful, orderly fragrant row of lettuces, herbs and tomatoes, growing under the hydro lines at jane and finch...

my mother has also always had a giardino... cucumbers, basil, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, thyme, rosemary (always, for luck), parsley, peppers, lavender... i always loved the giardino. ("vero, go and get some pressemolo from the garden!").


but really, i think maybe it started, in earnest, on an early visit to vancouver, back when cam and i were still a bi-costal (ish) couple and infrequent visits to my now fully adopted home were like tiny holidays.


whether it was by bike or by foot is a detail i have lost in the eight plus years since, but the other delicious details... the butterflies and poppies and sweet peas and sunflowers... the zucchini blossoms and tomato vines... and the riot of colours, imagination, and life... those details i remember. those details, lining the sides of the once-railway-track that had long ago seen the last rail car traveling between the fraser river and the molson brewery. previously unwanted and unused lands taken over by ingenious neighbours, made beautiful, useful and coveted; all with seeds and soil and thoughtfulness. the cypress community gardens really are amazing. if you have not been, you really should go.


so inspiration struck like a match and lit a tiny flame. a couple of years, and a very long train ride later, i put my name on the waiting list for a community garden plot of my own. i had my name on that list before i had my first real home in this city. i had my name on that list within weeks of moving to vancouver.

that was nearly 5 years ago. this past saturday i finally signed the papers - cam and i now have a community garden plot. a tiny piece of land in a space shared with strangers, neighbours, potential friends., potential nemesi (?) in a new garden... on the ridgeway bike route at elgin street.... near home, in east van.

so, we have the plot. the question is... now what?

hm... other than poppies and seeds and soil and a rosemary bush (always, for luck) i have no clue. so, stay tuned...


v.xo