GrowMemphis Day 4

                  Day 4
On our second day of work, we went downtown to a community garden called Common Ground Community Garden, run by the Saint Patrick Center. We met the woman in charge of the lot, Ms. Anne. She was exactly the woman that I want to be when I retire! Ms. Anne had a lot of work in store for us. Looking back on what was there before and what is there now, we made so much progress! We began the day by weeding the beds and the areas outside of the beds. We had to put a black plastic tarp on the ground around the beds so Mitchell mowed in between the beds and just about the rest of the plot of land that we were on. We then met Marva. Marva lives about ten minutes away from the garden and frequently helps Ms. Anne in the garden. She uses the vegetables to feed her family in the summer. She also told us stories of how she has learned so much after helping out in the garden for such a short period of time. It reminded me of how important it is to actually understand to how food comes onto your plate. I loved that I was finally able to plant something today too! Ms. Anne gave me a six-pack of petunias to plant inside of a planter made out of tires.

We put down black plastic tarp on the ground in between the beds in order to get rid of the grass/weeds underneath and make the area look nicer. We put pine needles and leaves on top. A dump truck came with a bunch of soil so Mitchell, Sarah, Erin, and Kylie began shoveling wheel barrels full to put into each of the beds… that took up most of the day for them. Sara raked out the dirt once it was put into the beds. Shannon, Monica, and I moistened the soil and began planting seeds of radishes, peas, carrots, and spinach mustard. Once again, it made me realize how much I love gardening. I think that once I go back to Lawrence I will try to convince my boyfriend to let me have a space in his backyard to have a small vegetable garden. We all spent the rest of the day moving dirt from the huge pile… we were just estimating that it could have been around 4,000 pounds. Not sure about exactly how much dirt we moved but it was definitely a lot!


We left the garden and planned on going to a vegan restaurant, Imagine. Unfortunately, we walked up to the door and realized that it was closed. Sad. Instead, we went to Fuel Café so Sarah could have a vegan burger! We came back to the church to rest up for the evening. Of course, we made a run to the grocery store to get items for dinner, Brinner! We made pancakes, turkey bacon, and eggs. I was in charge of cooking the pancakes and well… the butter got too hot and started smoking. Seconds later the fire alarm went off! The entire church/school was evacuated and the fire department came… whoops! We finally ate dinner then chatted for a while. The KU alumni suggested going to Muddy’s Bakery so we decided to go there for desert. The shop was adorable! They had tons of baked goods and vegan ones too. I got a “Tomboy,” which was a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting. It was delicious. 

We finally made our way back to the church and had a giggle fest. From “Nnnooo!” to “Oh dear.” Maybe it was the sugar in the cupcakes or maybe we’re all just possessed by Eliza. Off to bed for another busy day tomorrow!