gardeners

In this apartment complex there are lots of older Korean folks, first generation immigrants that don't speak much English. People that have seen more hunger and poverty than most Americans ever will. They start their gardens as soon as the ground thaws up against the buildings and under plastic sheeting.

Walking this morning, I was trying to figure out how to describe the gardens in this day of "locavore" and "victory garden" chic. Their gardens aren't politically correct...there's a lot of trash from last season, piles of old pvc tubes and plastic that used to be green houses as well as old buckets, carpet scraps and furniture. They use plastic bags from the grocery as cloches or to tie the rag tag green houses together then let them blow away in the wind when that job is done.

They also gather food plants we consider weeds...dandelions parts drying on tarps. Where do they store them, what do they make with them.