Getting Dirty - In the Garden

A few weeks back, when I was visiting teaching with my companion, Denise, we were talking as we walked to and from the train station to our appointment.  I learned that she and her husband have a garden plot.  Basel has numerous community garden spots that can be rented by apartment dwellers (I think they are rented, maybe you just sign up on a list and get one when it's available---I'll have to check that out); but anyway, there are numerous gardens throughout the city.  Anyway, she is so busy with multiple church responsibilities and a myriad of hobbies and things that she does, that she was saying that she was worried about getting over to the garden and having the time to care for it. 

Okay, you have to understand that although our vegetable gardens in Salt Lake, Vernal, and Ottawa were always in need of weeding and not exactly breaking productivity records, I still enjoyed working in them.  I've always had dreams of flowers, too, lots of them--- kind of like an English country garden, but as those of you that have seen our yard in Spring know, our yard's a disaster---it's lacking BIG TIME!  The main problem is that I hate the Texas soil, the weather/humidity, and snakes (not in that order), and I don't really get a super big thrill having failure experiences, either.  Hence, my gardening experience in the Houston area (Sugar Land, too) hasn't always been positive.  I have only been able to dream about having fun in a garden again.

So here was my chance.  I thought to myself, this is my chance to serve; to learn; to get "down and dirty" in a clean, wholesome way; to spend time with a friend; and TO GET OUT OF THE APARTMENT!!  So...I volunteered to help her.  I went over last week and cleared out several sections of her garden which is divided by pathways.  I planted red and yellow onions in the furrows she made in one of those emptied plots, helped her plant some pansies, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I loved digging, and weeding, and trimming, and planting.  It was fantastic.  I even loved how I ached on Wednesday morning (because I have to ride a tram and a bus to get to her garden and back home, I bend and stretch---don't want to kneel down and get the jeans muddy for the ride home!)

Well, today I got to go back; and the camera's batteries weren't dead like last week.  So I took some pictures.  Spring has definitely sprung in Basel:

Don't you just love these flowers?  Denise and Heinz have a nice-sized shed on their property for all their garden equipment, an area of grass, an outdoor fireplace, an area of pea gravel where she wants to place pavers and create another outdoor dining area, a composting area, lots and lots of garden sections, but then look at this:


This little house has a basement for storage, the neatest country hutch ever, counter space, a hot plate, and a table and chairs.  Totally fun!  Out to the side there's more counter space and a sink for clean up and watering chores.



This little house is on the next garden over!  Aren't they cool?


Well, we finished our work.  I thinned a whole bunch of strawberry plants today, and weeded the area so it's all ready to plant a few new ones, and it will just be all strawberry plants---nice and neat.   And guess what?  My (their) onions are coming up already, just after a week!

On the way out of the garden, we saw this:

In their neighbor's garden, we saw this:

I went over to Denise's and waited while she got ready to go to church for the primary activity.  We rode the bus back to a stop right by the church, and then I walked home (could have taken the tram, but figured I needed the exercise).  Snapped a few pictures walking down the narrow street.  There were even signs of spring there:

Yup, I think spring is here to stay.