A PDB resident cuts the first tomatoes of the season to share with her partner and friends.

It started as the dream of five or six residents mid-summer 2018.  One had years of experience.  Another contributed a scientist’s curiosity.  A third brought tenacity.  Others  stepped forward with strength, creativity, and ingenuity.  All wanted to coax good, organic food from the Delta soil, nourished by the spring rains and the western light.

The 2019 Delta Bay Community Garden flourishes.  Tomatoes dangle from lush green stalks.  Mint rises from pots on the perimeter.  Strawberries sit green and knobby in the back near the creek, where rushes rise tall, encouraged by the summer sun.  Soon the garden’s minders will have to race to get the ripe delicious fruit before the birds claim it all.

A stroll across the meadow provides a glimpse of the living trellis which the first year’s garden crew constructed from a pile of branches left on the compost pile by park staff.  No one realized that the structure would take root.  Now it towers over the newly refurbished beds, casting a gentle shadow over the garden.  A walk beneath its shelter seems like a wonderful journey into a storybook’s secret garden.

This year, the garden committee installed an irrigation system.  It requires a little tinkering to attain perfection but the nearest neighbor starts the watering each evening until adjustments can be made.  Despite the growing daytime heat, and the demands of everyone’s schedule, the garden unfolds and begins to yield its bounty. There will be plenty to share!