a short convo w my peeps that i never met.

[mopinko]

so, i have this urban farm. i get hassled, but i also get a lot of love. posted this on my farm blog this a.m.

out yesterday harvesting wild plants. i have my headphones on, but as 3 peeps i dont know approach, smiling and pointing.
i whip the phones off and say hello.
"your garden is just gorgeous" still walking.
"thanks so much. there are a few haters, so i always appreciate hearing from the lovers."
"whaaaa?" all 3 in concert.
"it's all good, i just need to hear from the other sode sometimes"
"you keep doing you"
"oh honey, this is my freak flag. long may it wave"
3 fists high in the air as they disappear down the street.
yup, yup, that's what floats this boat.
maybe one of these days i'll sit in my front window and count all the gawkers, and the smiles, for a day. i'd have some numbers for just how much this little project adds to this hood.
the teens on the block think of this place as a park. there's numbers out there for the worth of green spaces.
this thing makes this hood better, measurably.

[femmedem]

1. Wonderful!

My front yard is so short that if you have long arms, you can touch the house from the sidewalk. But that little space is filled with tomatoes, basil and nasturtiums.

[mopinko]

2. i live in a rare city hood w big lots.

most are 1.5 standard lots. my front yard is 30x30. only the ones on the short side of the block are standard lots. a lot of those people hate me, lol.

[mopinko]

3. it's funny

i've lived in my house for 35 yrs. started the farm in '12.
my front yard slowly morphed from a few perennials around the edges to a jungle. along the way, all the places on my side started sprouting more and more gardens. now the other side of the street is starting to crack.
the long time alderman of the ward lives a few blocks down my street. saw him out on a stroll w his new wife a while back. he- so this is the block where everyone hates grass.
me- and it's all my fault david.

[femmedem]

4. Someone in our city fought to keep her pollinator garden.

She was cited for having weeds over ten inches tall, but she successfully demonstrated that she had weeded out the invasives and deliberately kept the native species. The public was on her side, and the city looked foolish for ever fighting her over it.

[mopinko]

5. there's a woman here who got an award from 1 mayor and a court fight w the next one.

daley gave her an award for the best naturalized yard in the city. rahm jacked the cost of the ticket from $100 to $600, and thought he'd balanced his budget. it's theoretically a per/day fine. but they rarely use that. they doubled her's but i dont think she ever paid it. been in court for years. they didnt make her take it down, tho.
there's 1 guy at administrative court looks at your pictures and decides if you've complied. she showed him a pic, and said- ok that's milkweed. it's a native flower. he- it says weed right in the name.
here it's 4'. my milkweed is about 6', but if they think they're gonna make me yank out plants that an endangered species depends on, and uses, i'll see them in court.

and yeah, the key word is- untended. i tend my weeds more than my flower garden.

[NJCher]

10. I'm always looking at landscapes

and I love to see that!

We have a regional theater not far from me. It is reknown for its productions and is very popular. Across the street from it is a house with a front yard like what you describe. This person puts out styrofoam containers and fills them full of soil and grows all kinds of lettuces.

I love to see it, but one of these days when I get some extra planters, I think Ill drop them off anonymously.

[mopinko]

12. ppl do stop, or at the very least look as they walk by.

usually they even look up form their phones. or take a pic.

it's the little rewards....

[femmedem]

13. I guarantee that if you do, the gardener will be thrilled with your anonymous gift!

The only thing better than a gift from a loved one is a gift from someone you don't even know. He or she will feel so appreciated.

[lark]

6. Awesomeness in action!

Sounds like a beautiful oasis.

[mopinko]

7. ya know, more than 1 person has called it eden.

not my words...

[lark]

8. If you can, it'd be great to see a pix of this eden.

Not all of us have those skills, but if you do, I bet others besides me would enjoy seeing it. I love gardening, had a friend who did her yard in the English wild garden ways and it was so pretty.

[mopinko]

9. i'm working on a presentation

to electeds, explaining the science, and walking through the farm.
i'll put that up on youtube when it's done.

lots of pics on my fb, ftr- facebook.com/moahsark

[lark]

11. Cool, I'll check those out.

[NJCher]

14. visited

Lots of good information on your Facebook page!

I loved the bee quote--"in between we garden."

I run school and community gardens. I hope to return to this post later to post some of the reaction we get from the public.

[mopinko]

15. oh that's awesome!

there's a group around here that gets my leftover plants and the invading raspberries.
what a great job. i'd love that.

i love the kids that come here. i look out my back window, and see kids at my gate, tossing goodies to the chickens. i have a ton of garter snakes, and MOST of the kids love them.
i love picking something and making them taste it, even if they've never had it before and think it's weird. like weeds. sorrel, lemon balm, mint. all arrived unaided.

fun fun