Community Garden Steals Show on Prez. Hall Tour

Preservation Hall held its second annual garden tour yesterday under hazy skies. Unfortunately, I could not visit the four private gardens. I did, however, attend the final event, a party at the Community Garden, beside the Senior Center. And, yesterday afternoon I interviewed a future guest about her impressions of the tour. Antonia had driven up from Plymouth to support Preservation Hall on this hot, hot day. She raved about the third and fourth gardens, one on Chequessett Neck, the other on King Philip Road. Later Tracy Plaut told me she also had loved the landscaping at Chequessett Neck, which incorporated natural elements, like native pine, and overlooked the harbor. Wish I had time to do everything!

Fortunately, I was able to carve out a half hour for reporting duty. My walk through the Community Garden was an incredibly peaceful experience. The plots were all different and each unique in its own way. Flowers were planted along with the vegetables: calendula, nasturtiums. It's quite a funky place. I finally got to see the scarecrow my neighbor Sally Branch asked me to photograph.

Garden tour visitors meandered down the central path with me, so I listened in on some of their conversations:

“It’s a blast to come through here,” Sharyn Lindsay told a friend.

“Doesn’t this look delicious, the lettuce?” someone else said.

“I’m picking one for dinner tonight,” declared a man wielding a knife, apparently owner of the plot.

“I share a plot with Iris,” Deb Giza told a friend, her voice ringing with excitement and pride. “I planted beets for her borscht.”

“Even the way people planted their rows: it’s so aesthetic, isn’t it?” one woman remarked, nodding her head in admiration.

I could only agree.

Maura Condrick sold markers to benefit the Community Garden, so I bought five, “Marvelous Markers from Maura,” cut from shingles by John Makely. It was nice to be able to take a bit of the Community Garden home to decorate my own here at Chez Sven. I cannot imagine tending TWO gardens, as Sharyn Lindsay does. Before leaving, I asked Caleb what his favorite garden was.

“My mum’s,” he said, without a moment’s hesitation.

It’s great to be able to participate in such events. They bring a community together. The construction of Preservation Hall isn't yet finished, but it is already fulfilling its purpose. And, community is essential for the welfare of a small town ....