Growing Together- Just Do It!

     I have been putting off repairing our front porch.  It doesn’t help that it is 100 years old and a bunch of the supporting wood structure is rotten.  It doesn’t help that the mahogany decking we so carefully (and tightly) put down last summer swelled and shifted the support pillars.
     All fall and winter, I stewed—and feared—the necessary work that had to be done.  It was way beyond my ability and competence, but I couldn’t stop.  My friend Jerry came to my rescue.
     Yesterday we bought the wood and began the process.  We jacked up the ceiling of the porch.  (I had had nightmares about that one!)  We put a temporary 4x4 in place and removed the pillar.  It really was quite simple…if you know what you are doing.
     Then we took up the east section of the porch deck and re-laid it with a bit more space between each board.  It was tedious because Jerry wanted each board exactly true.  But we did it!  Then Jerry studied what needed to be done to give a stable footing for the refurbished pillar—but that’s next week’s task.
     What does that have to do with gardening, and specifically community gardening?  At least three things:
Don’t spend (waste) a lot of time stewing about the garden.  Do what you can do.  Plants are amazingly forgiving things!  Plant them and tend them…and find ways to enjoy the process.
You don’t have to know everything.  There are mentors and fellow-gardeners available who are eager to help.  The resources at the library or on-line or at WSU Extension or at the bookstore can help supply whatever knowledge you seek.
We don’t use the porch.  There was a day when porches were centers of neighborhood activity.  People sat on their porches and greeted passers-by.  Today, creating community is much more difficult and must be intentional.  That is why we are going to have some garden picnics this summer—to share the fruits of our labor and to get to know our garden neighbors.
     I hope to see you in the garden up to your elbows in the dirt. – Joe a