Eatin' good in the neighborhood

In the few entries I've written, I've talked a lot about the kooky neighborhood my boyfriend and I live in.  It's mainly overrun by undergraduates that can miraculously afford BMWs and Lexus SUVs (thanks Dad!)  However, there are also other folks: recent immigrants to the U.S., drug dealers, drug addicts, overgrown hippies, some who may or may not be homeless, and then just a few seemingly responsible, reasonable people.  I like to think I belong to that last group, but who knows.  

Anyway, our little garden has been overproducing lately.  In early spring, our eyes were way bigger than our stomachs and we selected and planted at least twelve little tomato plants, several rows of cukes, and ten or so pepper plants.  For two people?  Yeah, perhaps a bit much.  We've canned our hearts out, and we've eaten so many cucumbers that I wouldn't even blink if you told me I couldn't have another one all year.  

Now, we've taken to feeding the masses.  It usually goes something like this: James, the boyfriend, goes out to the garden and picks a few ultimate frisbees full of veggies (they make excellent trays for the basket-less.)  He sets it on the front porch, at which point I see the piles of cucumbers and groan loudly.  I just cannot eat another bowl of cucumber soup.  I just can't.  We take some veggies inside for lunch or dinner, but there's still a dozen cukes, a pile of jalapenos, and even more tomatoes sitting on the porch.  From that point on, James accosts pretty much anyone who walks by and ends up giving them as many vegetables as they can carry.  The quiet girl next door? Yeah, we forced some cucumbers on her.  The middle-aged Hispanic guy who works at the deli?  Oh yeah, we loaded him up with a little bit of everything.  The young student who drives a $50K SUV and frequently lets his French Mastif take giant shits in our yard?  You better believe he's eatin' good in the neighborhood. 

 To be honest, I had never actually talked to several of these people until we had garden goods to give away.  Sure, I had waved or said hi as we passed on the street, but overall these neighbors are not good friends or even acquaintances.  Still, it surprised me to see how excited and appreciative they were of our offerings.  Because I enjoy the fruits of our garden day in and day out, I sometimes forget about the excitement of free garden-fresh produce from a neighbor.  Part of me also worried that maybe our neighbors would laugh at us or refuse our offerings.  But really--who would refuse a freshly-picked tomato on a hot July day?  It was interesting to hear some of the reactions to our offerings.  One guy kept repeating, "Seriously? Seriously?" like he was absolutely shocked that someone would offer up a little bit of produce to their neighbor.  In a way, that response saddened me, like giving away fresh cukes is now a thing of the past, at least in our neighborhood.  But on another level, it made me so happy so see someone so excited about our garden and about using locally-grown produce.  Maybe this place isn't so bad after all.

Flower Power

We live in a little university neighborhood that is, quite frankly, less than charming.  I'm not talking about one of those cute little college towns with lots of unique shops and restaurants and fairly nice, older homes.  No, no, no.  We've got the older homes--lots of late 19th century and early 20th century Victorians that have fallen into disrepair and are now used and abused by 21-year olds playing beer pong through the night.  Also, lots of the older homes have been burned down for insurance money or razed to make room for rip-off apartments geared toward undergraduate students at the university just a few blocks away.  Overall, there are very few owner-occupied homes in our 'hood--most are rented out to students and other assorted characters (drug dealers, old washed-up hippies, the like.)  

Despite the shortcomings, we love our neighborhood and will be sad to leave it in a couple of weeks when we pack our bags and head Up North for a new adventure.  Plus, we feel like we've given a little back to our less-than-charming 'hood through our garden.  This year, we decided to expand the garden into the front yard, lining the little front walkway with snapdragons, impatiens, marigolds, lilies, and daisies... Oh, and a pair of tomato plants that sprung up from last year's seeds.  We also planted sunflowers in front of the house, several of which are now blooming!  Granted, it's no rose garden, but we love it all the same.  The good news: other people love it, too.  We've gotten several compliments on our flowers from neighbors and passers-by, many of which seem downright flabbergasted that two students--renters!--would actually take care of their yard.  Shocking, right?  We're hoping our pretty little flower garden starts a trend.  Who knows, maybe when we come back to visit, there won't be any more burnt couches on the sidewalk and trash everywhere.  On that note, I'm not quite as sad about moving anymore.  Let's hit the road.