There are voluntary tomato plants growing in both containers of sweet alyssum. We rescued the alyssum from the $1 clearance rack at our local big box DIY store. There were six little, near-dead, plants in the container but we thought it was worth risking a dollar and offering some loving attention. We were right; their tiny white blossoms are gorgeous. I’m not sure how we also got blessed with three enthusiastic tomato plants but we’ll welcome them, too.

Early this spring, my daughter said she wanted to turn our front yard into a free-share garden. She says that gardening brings communities together. I’m not entirely sure where she discovered that since she’s not previously been an enthusiastic outdoor gardener (though she has an abundant plant collection in her room) but I learn from her daily so I agreed to give it a try. 

First, in May, we removed the grass from a 36-foot section of yard next to our sidewalk. We seeded a mix of perennial and annual wildflowers, just to see what would happen. It looked a little messy for a few weeks but then the flowers started to come in. And they are amazing.

After that, we began removing grass from the sloping part of our lawn next to the public sidewalk. That wasn’t so hard but the weather has been difficult so we’ve mostly worked at dusk. We planted tomatoes, basil, catnip (because OF COURSE), and heirloom amaranth, which is also called love-lies-bleeding. We’ve been joking that we’re like the elves from The Elves and the Shoemaker. Only, instead of shoes, every morning our neighbors wake up to new plants in our front yard.

We have more work to do. Our mail carrier walks to each house, often through the yards but he hasn’t quite decided whether the wildflowers are plants or weeds. We added a stepping stone to guide him around the wildflowers but we still regularly see his footprints mashing down the flowers. Decorative fencing is our next strategy, which, I’m hoping, will also discourage the neighborhood dogs from running through. 

We also need to finish caging the tomatoes so they don’t escape (Attack of the killer tomatoes!).  Up next: transplanting some peppers this week. No hot ones, just sweet green and red. I would not want a kid to pick and eat a hot pepper accidentally. 

Already the community aspect has started. I was outside, doing a little weeding, when two neighbors stopped by to talk about the garden. My girl was right again — gardening brings communities together. One neighbor asked for details about the wildflowers which gave us the idea to add some labels with the plants’ familiar names. 

To all of you grey clouds getting ready to rain on our garden (see what I did there?!), we don’t care if the birds, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits enjoy some (or even all) of the harvest. The point of the garden is to feed the community, in body and spirit, and that includes the four-legged community (and good bugs, not harmful ones).

Most of our plants are from our local farmers market, which helps our small farmers. They are so enthusiastic about the plants that it’s a great way to work on that community building my daughter told me about. We make our own compost but we buy worm castings ($5 for a 10 pound bag) from the farmers, too. And this year, we’ve committed (to ourselves) that we’ll grow from seed over the winter too. 

Ultimately, we want to eliminate the grass from the front yard entirely. It serves no useful purpose. A clover/fescue mix would encourage bees and feed the many rabbits in the neighborhood. But we’re a two woman team here so we’ll do it a square at a time.

I’ve been learning a lot from growers on social media who are as determined as we are not to use pesticides. We’re going to hang some ladybug bags as soon as they arrive. The ladybugs will help reduce aphid populations that are already nibbling away at our plants. Supposedly, they’ll help to reduce black flies too. I haven’t seen that in action but if we can substitute ladybugs for black flies, sign me up!

You might be asking in what way this is a Father’s Day post. A fair question. My husband, father of my kids, did not like to garden at all. In fact, one time, he bought a bunch of fast-growing trees to add privacy to our property line. Guess who he signed up to plant all of those trees while she was 7 months pregnant? And yes, I did it and they grew really tall, within a few years.

My father, on the other hand, was an enthusiastic, very traditional gardener. He planted the same flowers and vegetables year after year. I still have an irrational hatred of petunias and their sticky residue. UGH. My daughter likes them though so I’m trying to learn. 

As I’ve said before, I did not have the kind of father that so many of you talk about on social media. I had the kind of father that all of you are glad you didn’t have. So, while I don’t wish to honor him on Father’s Day, I will acknowledge that he taught me how not to garden. 

My daughter and I are teaching each other how to do it well. 

Happy Father’s Day to all the great fathers spending time with their families today. And to Ken, who really wanted to be here.