Some Saturdays at the garden are all about the little things. A little weeding here, a little watering there, a lot of good conversation. This was not one of those Saturdays. This was a big-machine, sweat-through-your-shirt, get-the-job-done kind of day, and 18 of you showed up to make it happen.

It was a beautiful one too. Blue sky, late-May sun, the kind of weather that makes you forget how much your arms are going to hurt tomorrow.

Leveling the U-Pick for What Comes Next

The project that ate up most of my day was right out front. When the city put in our new parking lot last fall, all the earth along the front got pushed around and left uneven. Before we can build out the new U-Pick beds up front, we have to get that ground rototilled, graded, and smoothed so there are no tripping hazards once it settles.

So I made a stop at DeRonne Hardware on Nine Mile, picked up a rototiller, and got to work.

It was a big job, no two ways about it. I spent pretty much my entire day behind that machine, and somewhere in the middle of it the sun caught up with me and I started to overheat. That’s when Joe stepped in and knocked out about half the tilling himself. One of our newer volunteers, and already saving the day. That’s how it works around here.

Before any of that could happen, a whole crew went through and rescued the plants worth saving. Becky, Glen, and Melanie pulled the native plants out of the U-Pick area and set them aside, and the best part is where they’re headed: down to our South Warren Community Garden to start a new life in new soil. Nothing wasted, just passed along.

If everything settles the way we want, we’ll be building those new U-Pick beds soon, with a real shot at getting fall crops in the ground for the community. More on that as it happens.

The Giving Garden Is Coming In Nicely

I want to take a minute on the Giving Garden, because it is really starting to show off.

We logged today’s harvest, and even this early in the season the numbers are nothing to sneeze at:

• 2 lbs of radishes from the Giving Garden
• 2.75 lbs of lettuce from the U-Pick

Katie and Glen handled the harvesting, and Katie also got some cucumbers planted while she was at it. Fresh radishes and lettuce, this early, headed right back out to the community. Exactly what these beds are for.

There’s also a big piece of the watering project that just fell into place. Last Thursday I picked up the new water enclosure box that was fabricated and donated to us by Midnight Metal Craft over in Fraser. A huge shout-out to Adam for helping us pull that part of the project together. That box is one of the last things we needed to finish the new automatic watering system for the Giving Garden. We’re hoping to get it installed over the next week if time allows, and once it’s in, it’ll mean less hauling hoses around and more consistent water for the plants that feed our neighbors. Win-win.

Blueberries and a Garden-Cart Ride

Our resident plant whisperer Lisa swung by to check on the blueberries, and the report card came back glowing. She pointed out that the dark green foliage with a touch of red on the newer growth is exactly what you want to see in a healthy plant. In her words, they’re doing really impressive.

My favorite part of the whole day, though? Lisa hurt her leg recently and is getting around in a brace, taking it slow. But “taking it slow” and “staying away from the garden” turned out to be two very different things for her. So when she wanted to inspect those blueberries up close, we loaded her into a garden cart and Kat pulled her around for the grand tour.

We’re not a fully ADA-accessible garden (yet!), and we’re honest about that. But we bend over backwards to meet folks where they are. A braced leg, a cart, and a friend on the handle, and Lisa still got to do the thing she loves. That, right there, is the whole point of this place.

New Neighbors, Fairy Gardens, and a Whole Lot of Generosity

Another favorite part of the day: a neighbor named Sean rode over from around the block with his two daughters, somewhere around 11 or 12 and 7 if I remember correctly. Turns out he’d been to the garden before, just never on a day when volunteers were here working. He didn’t hang back. He jumped right in and helped weed and plant some of the sponsor beds.

Kat said his girls had an absolute blast. They spent their time with the other kids (both big and little) setting up the fairy garden – tiny cottages, gnomes, little wheelbarrows, the works. If you’ve never seen a fairy garden, it is exactly as charming as it sounds, and watching a couple of new kids dive straight into it was the kind of thing that makes a hot, dusty workday worth it. Something tells me we’ll be seeing Sean and his daughters around all season.

The generosity didn’t stop there. We had neighbors stopping by all day with their arms full:

One neighbor dropped off a stack of wicker harvest baskets, plus a pepper plant and a few other goodies.

Another brought us squash, along with a packet of squash seeds from Baker Creek.

Those donated plants – a hot pepper, a tomato, and the squash – already found a home tucked into one of our beds. People just show up and give. It never gets old.

Cleanup Crew and the Quiet Stuff

By the time most folks were wrapping up, the to-do board was looking pretty satisfying. Weeding the Giving Garden, filling the barrels, clearing out the rental area, tidying the garbage and carport area, weeding the sponsor beds – lines crossed off all the way down. Joe also pulled grass around the Giving Garden beds and laid down cardboard and wood chips toward compost alley while he was at it.

And when nearly everyone had headed home, Becky and Joe stuck around to help me close the place down. Becky and I got a good chunk of time to talk and get to know each other better, and I came away grateful all over again that they found their way to this garden. The work matters but so does getting to know your neighbors.

Come Grow With Us

This is the part where I remind you that none of this requires a green thumb, a single ounce of experience, or any kind of commitment. Want to know a little secret? Sean, Joe, and I aren’t really gardeners. Didn’t stop a single one of us from finding plenty to do today. You can pull weeds, push a wheelbarrow, build a fairy village, harvest a few radishes, or just come hang out in the shade and chat. The soil doesn’t judge, and neither do we.

We’re at the Eastpointe Community Garden, 16425 Nine Mile Road, every Saturday from 10am to 2pm. No sign-up, no fee, no pressure. Just show up and find your spot.

See you in the dirt. -John