New guerrilla garden = more happy hours of playing in the dirt

A good friend of P. Garden has recently started work on a new guerrilla garden in San Francisco. I won't say who, or where, but Matt and I went over to help him plant the first plants on this large, steeply sloping, (abandoned for at least 6 months and in dire need of help) patch of land, and it's just thrilling to see someone so excited about beautifying our city! I hope his garden grows and is enjoyed by many for years to come.

I popped out to P. Garden on Tuesday to water in the new plants, and had a lovely chat with neighbor Michael and his gorgeous little daughter Noa. It warms the very cockles of my heart to see parents and kids in the garden, enjoying the flowers. Another neighbor Eddy and his pug Rosie were out snuffling around (well, Rosie was snuffling - I can't speak for Eddy!) Then some more dog owners came by and told me how much they loved the garden, and a car stopped coming off the freeway to shout "it looks beautiful!" before driving off. It's these spontaneous kind words that really make the work worthwhile.

Someone recently asked me how much time this garden has taken to create, and I calculated that since each time I go to the garden to work I spend at least 1 hour, and often more like 6+, I've put in easily 1500 hours in the last 10 months. That averages out to at least an hour per day, if you calculate on the low side, and it doesn't include the countless hours spent by other volunteers on the garden.

However, it's truly been a pleasure, and the number of neighbors who can enjoy the garden now means it's way more than worth it. It seems like almost every single person I talk to in the garden is delighted with it's progress, and can't wait to see how the garden will evolve over the years.

Photo above shows a cactus flowering away, while waiting for a spot to be planted on the cactus wall.