Saturday, August 2nd was one of those perfect garden days that reminds you why we do this whole community thing in the first place.

Shay and I rolled up just after 10 AM to find the kind of summer weather that doesn’t make you want to immediately retreat to air conditioning. After weeks of brutal heat, it felt like nature was giving us a little gift – warm enough to work, cool enough to actually enjoy being outside.

Taking Time to Notice the Magic

For the first time in a while, I found myself slowing down instead of rushing between projects. Don’t get me wrong, we love our ambitious garden plans and all the moving parts that come with them. But Saturday had this different energy. Relaxed. Present.

I spent a good chunk of the morning just wandering around with my camera, really taking in everything we’ve built together. Found myself hanging out near the pollinator gardens up front, maybe 40 feet from Nine Mile Road, completely mesmerized by all the bees doing their thing. It’s wild how you can get totally lost in nature even when there’s traffic humming by.

There’s something pretty amazing about being surrounded by butterflies and watching them work the flowers while cars zip past. Makes you realize we’ve created this little oasis that serves both our community and the ecosystem around us.

The Giving Garden is Absolutely Crushing It

Speaking of things that deserve some serious attention – our onions are having a moment! This year we tried something new with a wireframe grid system, planting each onion in its own square and letting them grow up through the grid. The result? These perfect, organized rows that look like something out of a gardening magazine.

It’s one of those times when trying something different actually works exactly how you hoped it would. The onions are thriving, the system is working, and honestly, they’re just really satisfying to look at.

New Faces, Familiar Stories

We had our usual mix of first-time visitors who just happened to spot our produce stand on Nine Mile and decided to pull over. One woman who’d recently been volunteering at a community garden program in another country saw what we were doing and immediately felt at home. She hung out for about half an hour, grabbed some veggies, and promised to come back next week to get her hands dirty.

This happens pretty much every Saturday, and I never get tired of it. There’s something about community gardens that just draws people in once they see what’s possible.

Spreading the Word Beyond Our Garden Gates

Before Bill and Jen even made it to our Saturday garden party, they were out representing Urban Seed at a Yardeners event from 9 AM to noon. For those who haven’t heard of them, the Yardeners of St. Clair Shores are this amazing group of gardeners focused on earth-friendly practices, native plants, and environmental education. They’re the folks behind those incredible annual garden tours and native plant sales, plus they do tons of community education around sustainable gardening.

Having Bill and Jen there talking about what we’re doing at Urban Seed is pretty exciting. It means our community garden approach is reaching beyond our Saturday crew and connecting with other gardeners who share our values around sustainability and community engagement. Bill’s already got wheels turning about how we might get our garden included in next year’s tour – wouldn’t that be something special?

It’s one thing to build something awesome in your own neighborhood, but when you start networking with established gardening organizations, you never know what amazing collaborations might bloom.

The Squad Was in Full Action Mode

While I was off playing photographer, the rest of our garden family was handling business:

• Jeff was busy upgrading our sponsor signage, installing a new “Friends of the Garden” sign for Henry L. Newnan III, who recently sponsored our South Warren garden. Since Eastpointe gets more foot traffic, we make sure our South Warren sponsors get visibility here too – maximum exposure for the folks supporting what we’re doing.
• Shay helped Coley with tomato trimming, harvested peppers from Melanie’s bed with Nico, and somehow managed to take only one photo all day. Sometimes you’re too busy living the moment to document it.
• Stefanie was our harvest champion, weighing beans, onions, kale, chard, and pink celery while also wrangling cucumbers that were apparently trying to take over everything except their designated trellis. She also made friends with a dog named Samson and got to watch butterflies enjoy our pollinator gardens.
• Nick cleared out bolted cauliflower and broccoli to make room for new crops, plus moved his “plant of the week” to the pond area – a red twig dogwood that’s apparently invincible, having survived the whole summer without dirt or water. That’s the kind of plant determination we can all learn from.
• Jody brought new plants, a cooler for the grounds, and her pup Macy, who got to socialize while Jody found perfect spots for her donations and chatted with everyone about garden plans and life in general.
• Bill and Jen came back from their morning Yardeners adventure ready to get their hands dirty. They started harvesting beans, weeded beds, watered everything that needed it, and got seeds in the ground for fall crops. Bill’s already brainstorming how we might get our garden included in next year’s Yardeners tour – now that would be something to work toward!
• Coley planted more kohlrabi and cucumbers while working with Shay on tomato maintenance, plus shared some solar pump hardware with Jeff for our upcoming pond project. The whole resource-sharing thing just keeps growing organically.
• Nico filled water barrels, harvested produce, hung out at the veggie cart on Nine Mile, and found a little green tomato that he turned into garden art by drawing a smiley face on it. Sometimes the simplest moments bring the biggest smiles.
• Kat took care of her sponsor beds and got bush beans and zucchini in the ground, plus helped Jeff get that new sponsor sign perfectly positioned.

Pizza, Stories, and Simple Pleasures

Around noon, we ordered from Ferlito’s Pizzeria – one of our sponsors who has been supporting the garden for about three years now. There’s something perfect about sharing pizza with your garden crew while surrounded by all the food you’re growing together.

Bill’s friends stopped by (one who lives three hours away.) She was completely blown away by what we’ve created here. It’s always fun seeing the garden through fresh eyes and remembering how special this little spot really is.

Seventeen Check-Ins and One Big Realization

Looking at our check-in board at the end of the day – 17 people showed up to be part of something bigger than themselves. Some came to work, some came to learn, some came to connect. Everyone found their own way to contribute.

That’s what I love most about our flat hierarchy philosophy. Whether you’re transplanting seedlings, chatting with visitors, organizing sponsor signage, or just sitting under a tree reading while soaking up the community vibe, you’re part of what makes this place work.

Small Acts, Big Impact

Before I forget – I finally fixed our check-in board so there’s a proper spot for the dry erase marker. Tiny improvement, but it’s those little details that make everything run a bit smoother for everyone.

And speaking of small acts with big impact – this week we had a community member named Miss Cynthia reach out because mobility issues make it tough for her to get to the garden herself. Did Molly hesitate when I asked if anyone could help? Not for a second! She went full “grocery shopping” mode in the Giving Garden, carefully selecting the best of what we had growing, then personally delivering it right to Miss Cynthia’s door. That incredible haul I mentioned – the squash, onion, beans, greens, peppers, and jar of flowers – it wasn’t just produce changing hands. It was neighbors taking care of neighbors, which is exactly what this whole thing is really about.

Sometimes the best garden days aren’t about crossing massive projects off the list or telling me how awesome I am. Sometimes they’re about slowing down enough to actually see the bees, appreciate the systems that are working, and soak up all the human connections happening around the shared work of growing food together.

Join Us Next Saturday

Every Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM, we’re out here doing this thing. No experience necessary, no registration required. Just show up and find your own way to be part of it.

Come hang with us and see what grows.