Day 1 Just Gettin' Started...

This project was inspired by a conversation in April with three friends, Jon Oxley, Annie Vonkeman and Chris Oxley. We met in a downtown restaurant, on a warm spring night that ended with wonderful snow...you know the kind with big wet flakes that stick to your eyelashes? We expressed our desire to engage in guerrilla gardening in Lethbridge. We wanted to take back and transform public spaces. We talked about planting flowers in abandoned, empty public spaces, replanting trees that had been removed by the city, planting seeds in the cracks in the pavement in parking lots, throwing seed bombs in the Industrial Park, dropping off pots full of flowers around downtown Lethbridge...the ideas went on...

As a result of this conversation I started to consider my boulevard, which is very large and was lawn. It is city property...and it was wasted space. I thought how lovely it would be to create a public garden, a space to share plants, gardening advice and vegetables. So I began the planning of this community art project in mid May, 2007.

This project works to transform an unused urban space into a space that will provide food, and more importantly a place where people meet, discuss ideas and join in gardening this space, and/or create their own garden interventions. There are spaces everywhere in urban areas that we can reclaim to grow food to share and flowers to enjoy.

To begin this project the lawn was removed June 2nd; 20 yards of lawn were taken away. June 9th we had 14 yards of loam delivered, and on June 10th the construction of the Public Garden Boulevard Project began. My partner Paul is helping me with this project and has been very keen on many of the ideas I throw at him, as a result this project has become very collaborative.

Sunday morning we began to distribute the loam. Our neighbor Richard brought out his wheelbarrow and shovel and helped shovel loam. Practically every person who walked past the project stopped to ask what we were doing, offer plants, or to say they were inspired to create a way to share their own garden bounty (vegetables or plants) to the community.

Here are a few of the people we met the first day, June 10th, 2007:
As I said earlier Richard my neighbor. He and his wife Marlene were very keen about the project. They are prolific gardeners themselves, and have offered to share their expertise and plants.

We then met Tim, who is a man I have seen walking around Lethbridge for...probably 20 years of so, but had never met. He has walked by our house many times, yet we have not interacted, but the garden enabled us to meet. He told us he was involved in the Historical Society here in Lethbridge. He was interested in the garden and said he would stop by next time for a tomato or two and a visit on the deck. I am looking forward to his visit and hearing some of his stories.

Then friends Dana and Annie came by. They brought inspiration (they are both the 'smiliest' women you will ever meet) and seeds (Zucchini and Beans). They have mystery squash (might even be watermelon) plants sprouting in their compost. They have transplanted some in their garden, and are bringing some to this project as well.

I met Joanne, who is a new neighbor from the end of the block. She moved to the neighborhood in February or so. She offered some plants, of special interest a native Crocus. She invited us to her yard to have a look at what she is doing and then to choose some plants that would work for the garden

Muriel came by and said that she had a bunch of plants that she could spare. I arranged to come to her house Monday evening. Muriel said that she now felt she would share ownership of the garden. I thought that was lovely...and hope that more people will share this sense of ownership and sharing.

We met Jean, who was an elderly woman walking by with a dog (she was dog sitting, it was not hers). She said she planted potatoes, beets, carrots. I asked her if she thought it would be too late for me to plant potatoes here...she said she thought it would be too late.

A man stopped by...unfortunately I did not introduce myself...we just chatted so I don't know his name. But he was very intrigued by the idea. At the end of the conversation he said, "you know I always have lots of raspberries in my yard...I think I will put up a sign and let people know they can come and pick them". That was cool.

Jon, my good friend, came by with herbs, namely: Basil, Rosemary (love, love, love Rosemary - it is just so invigorating when you smell it or brush by it), Chives and two sages. He had talked to a woman at the local market who was also going to stop by to check the garden, it is wonderful that the word is able to spread this way, as that is how community is built. Jon was one of the three friends who was at the 'guerrilla gardening' meeting I spoke of earlier. I am looking forward to future guerrilla gardening projects.

At the end of the day...about 9pm...stiff and sore, Paul and I sat on the deck with a beer and discussed how wonderful the day was, how many people we had met...even just said hi to. In the past when people went by they often walked by without a greeting or conversation, but now the garden provided an opportunity to interact.