Vegetables in the City

Farmers' Market is a treat; on Saturday or Sunday morning in Lowertown there are dozens of farmers with vegetables they have grown themselves, craftspeople selling embroideries, soaps, clothing, the bison guy, the chicken family, bluegrass musicians, facepainters, and of course people from U of M Extension peddling advice about turf.  Because it's St. Paul, you will always run into someone you know.

But there are people in St. Paul with shady yards (or no yard at all) who have found a way to 

grow their own vegetables in a garden I've driven by for years, near the Short Line and Hamline. (Like Daytons or St. Luke's Church, it is hard to call the Short Line by it's official name, Ayd Mill Road.)

       

Here you will find people who stop by before work to water their many varieties of vegetables and spend a couple of hours on Saturdays weeding.

Dave has had his plot for around seven years.  This year he has several types of beets, including striped beets.  He especially loves the greens.

Eron has had his plot for about five years.  It took him a while to clear it of stones.  Because the land was previously used as dump for pavement and rocks from the road nearby, after he cleared it of debris, he put in fresh soil.  One plant he grows is cardoon, which is not easy to find in Minnesota.  After three years of trying, he thinks this is the year he will be able to harvest it.  The cardoon is like an artichoke, native to the Mediterranean.

A dad was asking his boys if they didn't want to help him dig a hole for the tomato plants, but naturally they wanted to finish reading their comic books.

Other people were trading tips and 

cuttings over their fences.

There were flowers and chive plants blossoming, all under a bright blue sky.