Okay, let’s be honest here – last Saturday was HOT. Like, so hot that I ditched my usual gardening hat and sun shirt in favor of pure survival mode. Anything outside of the shade felt like being under a magnifying glass in all the wrong ways 🔎🔥 But did that stop our amazing garden crew? Absolutely not!

Twenty people checked in throughout the day, and despite Mother Nature trying to turn us all into human raisins, we knocked out almost everything on our ambitious to-do list. Sometimes the best garden parties happen when the weather tries to defeat us and we show up anyway!

Mission Accomplished (Mostly!)

Here’s what we set out to do, and how our heat wave heroes made it happen:

✅ Harvest – DONE! And what a harvest it was! We brought in more than 54 pounds of gorgeous produce – that’s over $266 worth of fresh food that we grew, logged, and donated directly to our community. We’re talking beautiful cabbages, kohlrabi, squash, leafy greens, onions, and herbs. Bill and Jen led the charge on this one, turning our garden beds into a community grocery store!

✅ Move compost – DONE! Jody jumped right in and got that black gold where it needed to go.

✅ Fill water barrels – DONE! Because even in a heat wave, our plants still need their drinks.

✅ Do hot girl shit – Oh, we DEFINITELY accomplished this one. Twenty people working in 90-degree weather? That’s hot girl energy right there!

✅ Zap the bugs – DONE! I spent a good chunk of time running around with our new bug zapper nets, playing the world’s weirdest tennis match against cabbage moths.

❌ Weed beds 3A and 3B and add compost – This one didn’t get finished before I headed out, but with everything else we accomplished, I’m calling it a win!

The True Heroes: Bill and Jen

Can we talk about Bill and Jen for a minute? These two showed up at 9:30 AM and were still going strong when I left. But here’s the kicker – they stayed until after 6 PM! That’s over eight hours of garden dedication in serious heat. They are absolutely the definition of garden heroes, and we’re so lucky to have them as part of our community. Especially because they come all the way down from Algonac on the weekend.

New Garden Family Member Alert!

The best part of Saturday wasn’t just the work we got done – it was watching Jody “the Rock Lady” Beaubien dive headfirst into our garden family. She filled water barrels, moved compost, seeded cover crops for green manure, watered Kat’s sponsor beds, and even brought lunch to share.

Plus, she’s got exciting plans brewing with Molly for our water feature project. There’s nothing like watching two creative minds connect over making our space even more amazing!

Bug Zapper Tennis Championship

While everyone else was being smart and working in whatever shade they could find, I was out there with our new bug zapper nets having what I can only describe as an epic battle with cabbage moths. These little tennis racquet-shaped zappers are honestly kind of fun to use, even if it makes you look slightly unhinged running around the garden.

Kat was taking a more traditional approach to pest management, weeding her sponsor beds and doing some strategic fly elimination. Different methods, same goal – keeping our plants happy and productive!

Native Plant Detective Work

Molly spent her day being a plant detective over by our water feature, identifying native species that have decided to make themselves at home in our garden. She collected seeds to share (because that’s what gardeners do!) and connected with Jody about bringing sand and interesting rocks for the wildlife pond project.

The downside? She was also out there in hand-to-hand combat with squash bugs, and dealing with some milkweed casualties in the parking lot. We’ve all been there, Molly – sometimes gardening breaks your heart a little!

Harvest Time Magic

Those cabbages that Bill and Jen harvested were absolutely stunning. Bill’s zinnias are also having their moment – perfect geometric blooms that look like nature decided to show off. He also handled all the behind-the-scenes maintenance that keeps everything running smoothly: watering, fertilizing, organizing the tool shed, and doing some strategic pest egg removal.

Jen brought donations from her home garden too – beautiful cabbages and beets that joined our community giving pile. She also did some thoughtful trimming work for better air circulation, because good gardeners think about creating the right environment for plants to thrive.

Cucamelon Update!

Jen’s excitement about our cucamelons is absolutely contagious! These grape-sized cuties have completely taken over their trellis in what she calls “the joker beds” (we love a good garden nickname around here). The anticipation is real – these tiny fruits pack a serious flavor punch, and they’re almost ready for harvest!

Cross-Garden Connections

One of my favorite moments was adding Jocelyn from our South Warren Community Garden to our group chat. This is exactly what Urban Seed is all about – connecting our garden communities and sharing the love. Now she’s in the loop for all our future adventures, including what we’re calling “pop-up salad bars!”

The Real Success Story

Sure, the heat was intense. Yes, we all probably needed <even more> sunscreen. But when you look at what twenty people accomplished together – harvesting, weeding, watering, building, planning, connecting, and sharing – it’s pretty incredible.

From Kat’s sponsor bed maintenance to Molly’s native plant work, from Jody’s instant integration to Bill and Jen’s marathon dedication, this is what community gardening looks like. It’s hot, it’s messy, it involves combat with various insects, and it’s absolutely perfect.

Join Us Next Saturday!

Ready to become part of this amazing garden family? We meet every Saturday from 10am-2pm at the Eastpointe Community Garden (16425 Nine Mile Road). No experience needed, tools provided, and the soil doesn’t judge your plant-killing track record.

Just show up, bring some water, and prepare to be amazed by what our community can accomplish – even when it feels like we’re gardening on the surface of the sun!

See you in the dirt!