It's karma paying off baby! Gotta love it!

"As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma." Sri Guru Granth Sahib





I'm in love with this quote.  Why??  Because my tomatoes are starting to turn colors, the Romaine lettuce isn't dying, and I got a plot at my neighborhood community garden.  The best part of my new gardening site is that it's half planted already with a bountiful harvest of green beans, corn, chard, and tomatoes!  Let me back up for a moment however...





Last month, while I was bemoaning my broccoli, I started looking into ways to increase my crops for the fall and into next year.  It was then that I discovered something called the community garden.  These bastions of green are located in many cities across the country and allow those of us who may be space or sun challenged the opportunity to get a little dirty despite our shortcomings.  My local community garden just happens to be located a mere two blocks from my house!  I discovered that for a small yearly fee, I can gain access to my own little 10x15 plot of land to extend my harvest.





My second discovery was that the community gardens also gives classes for those that may be gardening challenged or just want to expand our interests.  Tonight I attended a class on unusual edible landscape plants - and we got to taste along our tour.  We learned about the many ways we could use such interesting plants as the Sea Berry, Persimmon, and Goji berry in our landscaping and in our bellies.  There is also a community master gardener and a plethora of amateur savants ready and willing to help with your underperforming potatoes and sad looking squash.  When walking through the gardens, I am amazed at every twist and turn at the bounty this noble group has been able to produce.





And for my third, and favorite discovery, the gardener who gave up his plot which allowed me to enter the garden had already planted half of the area with corn, green beans, tomatoes, and peppers!  I feel like a scavenger going out daily to bring in more of the harvest that was ready made for me.  I also have fall veggies coming in.... but I have no clue what they may be.  I found a wadded up seed pack labeled "chicago beets" and something like a carrot top seems to be forming in a section.  I'm not sitting back on my haunches to wait for the garden gods to produce however.  I have added bok choy, turnips, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale.  All should be able to sprout up for harvest before the winter hits, or, in the case of the kale, I will be able to mulch the area and harvest after the first frost thanks to are Portland climate. 





With this new sense of community and comradeship, I am renewed in my excitement for all the fall has to bring for this urban (and highly improbable) farmer.