I Will Not Bring Weapons to the Garden

The community garden officially opened a couple of weeks ago and, as it was a fairly pleasant day, that is not raining or cold, I took myself up there to see the state of Plot 59, which has been curiously renamed Oriole 21.  It sounds like a code-name for some CSIS operation.

This is the lovely sight that greeted me. Just a few weeds that were easily removed from the mucky soil.

I had put down about 3 bales of hay in the fall hoping to prevent a repeat of this:

which is what I had to deal with when I took possession of my plot last year.  So we're already off to a great start.

There were some feathered friends:

I'm not sure what kind of bird this is. Some type of swallow maybe. Just after I snapped this, another bird came along and stuffed itself into the little hole.

There were wormy friends doing their wormy job:

 

As I was digging, I was able to channel my inner Scarlet O'Hara, "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again," when I discovered this poor thing left over from the fall.

But before I could venture into the garden, I had to pay my $25 and sign the Contract. I was a little suprised to have to sign a contract for a garden plot but I suppose you need some sort of order or chaos will reign.  The Contract seemed simple enough, basic, common sense rules that I just sort of skimmed through, not really paying too much attention.    

If  my plot becomes unkempt with weeds, I understand I will be given notice to clean it up. This didn't actually happen.  Last year, about half the plots had turned to weeds and nothing was done about it.

I will keep all my plants within the limits of my plot and will not allow plants to grow more than six feet high.  I`m not quite sure how you go about controlling that especially if you're growing corn.

I will pick only my own crops unless given permission by the plot user.  This rule was a shame because all around me last season I saw far too much produce go to waste - tomatoes had fallen to the ground and left to rot,  broccoli and lettuces all gone to seed.  People forgot they had a garden or had given up or something but it was truly a shame. 
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I will not bring dogs to the garden. As much as I would like the company of Dog at the garden, I can see the point of not bringing dogs there.  Who wants dogs rampaging through the squash, pooing everywhere?

I will not plant any illegal plants.  Um, ok.  You'd have to be pretty stupid to plant your weed in such a public place.  It's not like the farmer's field where the plants are easily hidden amongst the corn.

I will not smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, use illegal drugs, or gamble in the garden.  Not even a friendly wager to see who has the biggest tomatoes?

I will not bring weapons into the garden.  I will not bring weapons into the garden.  This stopped me in my tracks.  Why had  this been put into the contract?  Had there been some problem in the past with someone who had brought a knife or gun to the garden?  Gun-toting hooligans is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of veggie gardeners.  Or maybe it's a preventative measure so that if someone does show up with a weapon, the Garden Lady has reason to kick them out.  Although I'm pretty sure that if you're the type of person who carries some kind of concealed weapon, you probably don't give a shit if you're kicked out of a community garden.  And you're probably not the type of person who would even ever be involved in a community garden.  Maybe that's sterotypical.  Maybe there are some villians who  would want to grow their own veg.   And there's nothing wrong with that. 

As long as they don't bring their weapons to the garden.