The Relish Ratatouille Garden Is In

This past Saturday, with a 3-hour respite from the rain, I finally planted our Relish garden. It’s been the rainy season in Nashville this year and I’ve been trying for weeks to get our garden in. It’s planted at the George Washington Carver Food Park that was featured in our May issue. The park is run by Sizwe Herring, who is as warm and welcoming as a big teddy bear. Sizwe started me off with an abbreviated "orientation" stressing his 3 “must do's” while at the garden—be safe, have fun, and practice good community (meaning help others and be nice to anyone who stops by the garden). This last rule is the whole idea of a community garden, so I don’t know why anyone would be there who didn't subscribe to it, but I guess he’s seen it all. After digging and weeding and hauling and adding compost, my plot was ready to plant. At the ready was Gladys Leese, another community gardener who enthusiastically helped and advised about where to plant what.  Just seconds after the last basil plant was in, the skies opened up—perfect timing. The name of our garden is the relish ratatouille garden, so we’ve started with squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and basil, key ingredients in the classic Provencal dish.  But in the spirit of community and world peace, we also planted Thai basil, Italian parsley and cilantro. Below are some photos from my day and some of my fellow gardeners. I took home 3 kinds of lettuce from a neighboring plot overgrown with it, and a sense of accomplishment and excitement for the growing season ahead.