Go! Go! Go!

I got the net fence from Katya today. We did a walk-through of the full plot I'm getting from her and the half plot she's getting from me. With the official (?) hand-over, I can really get started on the outdoor stuff.

In the past, we've paid one person who has hired someone to till, but there seems to be a problem finding someone this year. I really want to get to work on improving the soil. If the group isn't going to hire someone, I might just do my own plot myself.

I found a place to rent a tiller for a pretty good price. If I decide to rent it, I'll offer to do everyone's, but I'm a little nervous about the language barrier, timing, and politics. I'd have to clear out my station wagon to bring the tiller home and right now it's full of garden stuff.

If I don't rent, I'll do it myself with my new spading fork. I will definitely pull many, many muscles, and be sore for a long while, but it's a good sore and a nice chance to get dirty.

 I have about 100 pounds of soil additives to fix up our silty, sandy soil. I'll need to double it for the full size plot. Manure didn't go very far in the smaller plot, I used about 120 pounds (3 packages). I think I'll need at least 300 pounds for the new space since it hasn't been take care of very well. Everything I have is in my car since I don't have any storage except my apartment. Things left alone outside will be stolen, even peat moss.

I'm planning a big day of buying, loading, and unloading all of the soil stuff. I'll need to get it all out of the packages and lightly worked at minimum so it can't be taken.

I'll take another day to layout the garden and built the arbor and climbing structure and put up the fence if there's time.

Another day to assemble and install the watering system and lay the outdoor carpet for walking paths. I'll have to dig in the cedar plank baffles to help with erosion and drainage.

We don't have access to water outside yet and the garden shed (tools, stakes and fencing) hasn't been unlocked. That will dictate when we can move plants around outside, but I've got plenty of things to do before I'm ready for that.

I'm very happy to get started.

The intrigue begins, but I don't know why it's intrigue

Katya, just came to my apartment. She handed me a notebook and asked me if I could read it. It was a list of Ukrainian words next to English words, and a message next to that.

Basically, it said that she wants to apologize for her all the things she did last year. She said she would like to switch plots with me - I would take her full plot and she would take my half plot.

Last year, Katya took a garden plot even though her husband told her not to and said he wouldn't help her. She told me she could get him to do whatever she wants. He didn't help her. There was a bit of martyr play with her husband (a well crafted, pointy tool of hers). Her garden went to crap. As part of the martyr play, she let weeds come in and stopped watering it for a while. She was trying to embarrass him into helping. When he didn't bite, she was left to her own devices, which wasn't much since she doesn't walk well and isn't very strong.She couldn't catch up on the stuff she'd abandoned so she barely got any vegetables from it.

We're supposed to clean out our garden plots in the fall - remove fencing, pull up stakes, and clear out the soil so it can be tilled in the spring. Katya removed the fence, but not much else. There are still stakes there, weeds, and maybe planks or wood she walked on. It looks a mess.

Last year when she was setting up, she said she didn't have all of the things she needed for her plot and some of her things had been stolen. She needed fence. I told her my dad was bringing me some gear. I told her I would share what I didn't need, especially chicken wire. My dad didn't bring any chicken wire, so I bought some mesh fencing for me and gave some to Katya to use, knowing I'd get it back. It was only $20 and I was feeling flush.

I'm the only native English speaker in the garden. I am friendly with the Chinese and I am friendly with the Ukrainian, but there isn't much communication between them. Only the Chinese who learned Russian when they were in Communist schools can speak to the Ukrainians, but it's rare. I know which Chinese speak Russian, but most haven't revealed themselves to the Ukrainians. I'm sure it's a mixture of war memories, Communism, and racism.

Last year, Zhenfang, the woman I was helping to prep for her citzenship, was storming around the garden RAVING. She was yelling in Chinese at Anatoli, my plot neighbor to the north. I found out she thought he'd taken her tomato cages from the garden shed we all share. Anatoli didn't have any cages in his plot, so I tried to calm her down and show her he hadn't done anything.

Shortly after, she blew up again. She found her tomato cages in Katya's plot. When she put them away in the fall, she'd tied strings on them so she knew which were hers. There they were, in Katya's plot. It was crazy. Her ranting and body language conveyed "what do I have to do, mark everything that's mine" and "I guess I can go around taking whatever I want." She was gesturing, consensus building with the other Chinese and started throwing things. I'd never seen her or any of the Chinese folk scream like that.

I went to Katya, she said the cages were hers. With Gao yelling in Chinese behind me (Gao speaks Russian, but wouldn't speak to Katya), I showed Katya the ties that Gao had put on them to show they belonged to her. Katya had dozens of tomato cages. A little martyr play came in. She guessed she would be a good neighbor and give them to Gao, but people were always stealing from her. She wanted me to ask Gao where she got the cage - Gao got them from her daughter who lives near. Katya made a fuss that anyone could have put those ties on there, but she didn't say she'd put them on herself. She gave up the stack of cages. I went back to Gao's plot with her, she used her English words and Chinese gestures and said "Jennifer, Russians BIG. They are BIG." "Bad? Do you mean they are bad?" "Yes! Bad! They are all bad!"

Eventually, Gao believed me, that her cages in Katya's plot was a mistake. Things were HOSTILE in the garden and apartment lobby. I asked them to shake hands and be done with it and forgive.

A couple of days later, Katya wanted to talk about what happened. She told me she did take the cages. She knew they weren't hers. She thought she'd get away with it, but didn't notice the strings. I was blown away. I wouldn't help her anymore.

Since she met me, Katya has told me I need to exercise, that I'm too fat, that I should have a man or I should live with my parents. This was repeated over and over and over. My responses went from polite and gentle to firm to, well, telling her off.

Katya's plot is next to a tree and she'd sit in the shade. When I came home from the Farmer's Market on Saturdays, she'd be waiting. She criticized all the plants I bought whether the quality was bad, she didn't think I needed that particular vegetable (not enough cucumbers, that's why I'm fat), I spent too much money or I drove too far to buy them. She would put plants in my soil that she thought I should have. If I brought any tools or gear to my plot - "How much is this? How much you pay?" Then she'd demand that I take it back to the store. Persistently demand it.

All of this was scolding, dominant commands. I lost it one day and told her I'd had enough. She needed to get away from my plot, stop planting things, stop criticizing, and leave me alone. Martyr play came in," I am old woman, I no speak English good" (yes, she does), "I am not American, I do not understand things" (she's been here 20 years), there was a little crying, then more scolding, then apology, and finally, "maybe I am just person of bad character." "Yes. Maybe you are" and it was done. She left, came back with $10 and said that I hated her because of the fence I'd given her to use and the money was not worth me being mean to her.

When Katya came to my apartment tonight, she said she'd give me the fence. I gave her $10. She said, the fence cost her $20, don't I remember? I asked if she wanted more money. "Yes, it costs $20." I gave her another $10 to be done with it.

Finally, Katya told me that swapping plots had to be a secret. I shouldn't tell the garden president because she  could be "aggressive." She said I need to wait until after Passover. Maybe 10 days from now. She would come back and tell me when it would be OK to let anyone know we'd switched. I shouldn't say anything to anyone until she tells me it's OK.

I don't know what's going on with the secrecy. I really don't trust much of what Katya says, but I have my half plot if all of her plans fall apart. Until then, I'm going to make a new garden plan for the bigger plot. I might go start cleaning up Katya's plot since it's full of plant junk and can't be tilled until it's cleared. It will give me something to do.

Peaceful garden my fanny! It wouldn't be a neighborhood if there wasn't some sniping I suppose.

What Character: Anatoli

Anatoli is my garden neighbor to the north. He is from Ukraine, like many of my neighbors.  

I had to get a picture of him watering his plants. Notice his watering can has a vodka bottle attached to the nozzle. We joke he will have fat, red, drunk tomatoes.

Garrison Keillor used to hint about secrets for gigantic, envious tomatoes in his summer stories. Vodka isn't Anatoli's secret for fantastic plants - I checked.

Just before garden season, Anatoli had a complete knee replacement. Ever since, he's been walking with a cane or a walker. Gardening has been a real challenge for him, especially setting up is plot and getting the seeds and plants in the ground. He wants to have as much in his garden this year that he had last year. Some days are pretty bad. Since he's not as mobile, he wanted to make his watering can longer instead of reaching for the plants and possibly loosing balance.
Ta Da! The vodka bottle is attached to the watering can with plumbers tape to keep it from leaking and holes in the bottom.

Watering systems vary in our community. We all share one 50 foot long hose. The hose isn't long enough to get to all of the garden plots, so watering needs to be creative. There are hose people, watering can people, and hybrid folk. 

Anatoli is a watering can person. He has a large covered garbage can at the west side of his garden that he fills when the hose is free. Since it sits in the sun all day, the water gets warm. Plants like warm water.

Katya is a hose person. Her plot is closest to the spigot, so she can use the hose for the full length of her plot on its own. Most hose people use some kind of sprayer on the hose to get the coverage and distance for their plots.

I am a hybrid user. I have a water container buried in my garden. It holds about 20 gallons. When I can use the hose, I use a sprayer to water my plot, but when I don't want to wait, I use my storage water and refill when no one else needs the hose.

You've got to think "community" when you have a community garden plot.

Katya Update - Three out of five.

Katya hasn't backed off. She's more pushy and nosy than ever.
It's as though our heartfelt conversation about her repeatedly insulting me has opened a door to intimacy that translates into her getting into my personal business even more.
Today I put a final stop to it. She didn't take it well.
She made it through denial, anger and bargaining. I don't think 'depression' is really going to happen because I think she's some shade of sociopath. Acceptance comes after that. Maybe not if she's a sociopath.
Until next time, America.

What Character: Katya

Katya (aka Katie) has a garden plot at the far south end. She's very chatty, and spends a good amount of time in the garden. Since she's on the end, she's got to fence three sides of her plot. Her husband doesn't want a garden this year, but she went ahead anyway and he's not helping her.

Some of us have stepped in to help her out as much as we can, but her ambitions are high. Today is the first day she's accepted that she's going to have to stop planting and only keep what she can manage on her own. Her personality has drifted from humble, to needy, to emotional blackmail. She's been caught stealing things from other neighbors, claiming forgetfulness, then confiding to me she knew what she was doing all along. It turns out, she's the 'mean girl' of the garden.

Today I pointed out that she was insulting me (again). She responded with a spectrum of reasons why she was insulting, but eventually, she said she knew it bothered me. She promised she'd never do it again.

She's made me dread going to the garden. I think it will ease up now. We'll see.

The International Incident

Bought 80lbs compost/manure, stakes, veggie climbing web and a couple of plants. The climbing structure is assembled and looks so good! I riched-up some of the soil and planted onions. I sketched out my plan for the garden with a hoe. The neighbors approve, but not of what I will plant. Katie, my Russian neighbor asked me why I am so fat and suggested I play softball so I can get a man. Same as last year. Everyone shares one little garden shed to store all of their stakes, fencing, buckets, etc. Not everyone has "unpacked" so the rest can't get their stuff. There was also a loud skirmish over tomato cages and ownership - yelling and carrying on for over an hour and it continued after it was fixed. The angry one (no one else was yelling) told me "they" are all "big." Bad? "Yes, bad. All bad, Jennifer. They all bad" *sigh*