When Sara, Katie, and I first arrived at the MLK garden, I was really happy about the location. It felt really important to me to be able to walk to the garden because I wanted easy access to the plants and I wanted to be truly environmentally cognizant with this project. I also love that the garden is located in town. Sara and Katie lectured me on how South Bethlehem is indeed an urban area, so having our garden here encourages me that even those living in big cities can grow their own food too.
When I first laid eyes on the garden plots, I was in shock. Each of the plots looks like a bigger version of my grass in a cup, except this time a full patch of grass did not mean that my work was done. Our work had just begun. All the grass had to go, but I was not initially overwhelmed because I thought all of those years weeding for my mom for a dollar a bag would have prepared me well for this task. I thought all I needed was ten minutes, and both plots would be weed-free. Once again, I couldn't have been more wrong.
Weeding is a process in itself. I was ready to just take both hands to the grass, throw the green villains over the fence, and plant some seeds. Yet, Sara quickly shattered this vision, and rightfully so. I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. I needed to protect our soil. I had to pull out small bunches at a time and shake off as much soil as I could without throwing any roots back into the plot. Sorry guys, I definitely messed this up more than once! I would then pass the weed over to Katie, who would separate the roots from the green for composting.
What surprised me the most about this day was two things -- your butt and knees want to kill you after ten minutes of squatting and weeding is not as fast as you would think it would be. The former I will have to get used to, and the latter is a lesson in patience I will keep with me forever. After an hour and a half of weeding, we only finished about 3/4ths of one plot. You can see the final product below...
I was shocked that we had not finished more weeding in the time that we were there, but I was also really happy with the gardening experience in general. Looking back, I had a great time even though the job is not finished, which is an important lesson for any perfectionist to learn. The whole time I was at the garden, my mind was completely clear and I was in the moment. The pleasure of manual labor nourished my soul. I enjoyed Sara and Katie's company, focused on the task at hand, and the Lehigh world of finals, papers, and tests just did not exist in this space.
I am so happy that I am learning to garden now because I definitely want my own garden when I move into my first home. I now understand that this garden be a long process, but I also know that it will be one that fuels both my body and mind. I want to see vegetables sprouting out of that soil, but I also know that the wait and the labor that will precede those vegetables will make them taste even better. This might not be like growing grass in a cup, but I think I like gardening anyway.
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