I have heard that gardens can help community building, and while I had no reason to doubt this, I have definitely felt this the past couple months. Except for the guy who looked at me like I was on crack when I asked him about my flowering basil, everyone I've come across in the garden is nice, warm, and friendly (and they don't look at me like I'm on crack when I talk to them). Some of the garden plots are tended to by my friends, but most are not. In the garden, I wave to people I don't know, and sometimes even chat them up. This doesn't really happen in other venues.
So back to the tomatoes. My gardening neighbors who gave me the tomatoes are a couple with lots of tomato plants. Their plants are lush and green. They climb up to the sky on tall stakes. I am envious. I call them the tomato people (I actually don't know their names). I have also realized that seeing as how Drew and I have 10 tomato plants, I guess we too could be the tomato people. But our tomato plants don't look as good as our neighbors' plants.
I have chatted up the tomato people and solicited their advice. And yesterday, as we were watering our respective gardens, the woman came over and offered me some tomatoes. It was so kind and generous. I can't wait to eat them.
As we were talking, she was admiring our pepper plants. They might be the tomato people, but I guess we might be the pepper people. She said she couldn't grow peppers, which is surprising, given that she successfully grows tomatoes, thai basil, eggplants, potatoes, and squash. But anyway, this could be a good thing. Drew and I will surely have too many peppers, so when they start coming in, we will return the goodwill.
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