by Alison Limoges, ABG Board Member
When I first thought about what has been different about my gardening this past year, not much came to mind. I still plant and harvest greens and herbs from seeds and starts on my balcony garden. For some reason there have been fewer pigeons to shoo away. Instead, a nocturnal mouse is eating my seedlings and the new leaves on my dwarf Meyer lemon tree. Ah, the trials of gardening!
But as I thought more about my recent activities, I realized that a large part of my gardening has been as a volunteer and this past year senior volunteering has been discouraged or cancelled. With my therapeutic dirt-digging at my usual locations off limits, I turned to my friends and offered to weed their gardens. Thankfully, they were happy to oblige. I was allowed to make my own schedule and, alone and masked, I was only a threat to their weeds. Sometimes they’re able to join me, a welcome bonus!
Even volunteering to pick fruit for ABG’s Project Pick was altered this year. Instead of meeting up with a lively group to pick several trees, I now meet one other volunteer and we safely divest one tree of its bounty. The upside is that I get to spend that precious time talking with someone else who has been homebound, getting to know that person better. All while helping a fruit tree donor and neighbors who rely on our Alameda Food Bank. Ah, gardening!
