My Kitchen My Table

Seven Years of Waiting

After seven years of waiting, I finally have a plot in a community garden where I can dig in the dirt and grow things. There are several community gardens in San Francisco and seven years ago I entered my name on a wait list for the one in Fort Mason. Located in the heart of Fort Mason with gorgeous bay views, she is the Queen of all community gardens, coveted by many and it also happened to be walking distance from home. My neighbor had a plot there and would let me live vicariously through her as a volunteer to tend it when she was on holiday.

When I signed up I was deep on the second column of the wait list, number 64 I believe, and told that it would likely be upwards of five years until my name was called. Would you believe that five years later and 3 weeks after moving out of the city I got the phone call…?

Flash forward 3 years; I move back to the city to a different neighborhood with it’s own community garden. One of the first things I do upon my return is put my name on the wait list. I was number FIVE! Certainly, the wait would be mere weeks. Oh no, at this garden, it takes 18 months to 2 years to turn over five people. Last week, about 22 months later, I got the call. So there it is, seven years of waiting to be called to claim a small patch of dirt… my time had come.

The plot is located in one of the sunniest areas of the garden and the part of the city where I live is one of the warmest and least foggy. I have high hopes that I’ll be able to yield enough vegetables to feed me and Paul this summer. The plot is small, about 4’x10’ so I need to be strategic about what and where to plant. I plan to grow a combo of flowers and vegetables, mostly vegetables, and today the first went in.

In the row that boarders my neighbor to the north, I planted Cosmos. They’ll grow tall so I won’t have to see the dozens of marigolds that she is planting. In the next row is a Red Bell Pepper, and two types of Sweet Cherry Tomatoes. The third row has Arugula and Butter Lettuce which I planted from seed – we’ll see how that goes. The fourth row is flanked on one side with a Japanese Cucumber and Chives on the other with Little Gem Lettuce seeds in the middle. The south end has two types of Lavender and a Fuchsia.

There is a gap in the middle where strawberries, fingerling potatoes, thyme, tarragon and basil will go next week. Several people are growing strawberries including my neighbor to the west (he has an irrigation system too; I may need friend him). They seem to be hearty and thriving so I’m going to give them a go. Yum – fresh strawberries!!

Once the rest is in, I will nurture the garden and let nature take its course and see what she yields!

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