How My Little Community Garden Plot Went From Flop To Flourish
Two years ago, Carolyn Beans — plant biologist, flower farm worker and daughter of a veggie-grower — thought she had what it took to coax a bounty out of her tiny urban garden. She was wrong.
I spent two years dreaming of sun-warmed tomatoes, towering sunflowers and home-grown salad greens before a spot opened in my community garden in Washington, D.C.
When I first met plot 56 in September of 2015, it was a mound of grasses, vines, and cilantro gone to seed.
I had no experience with a vegetable garden of my own, but I knew I was just the person to tame this 4-by-8 foot raised bed. I grew up watching my dad grow veggies. I worked on a flower farm in high school. And I trained as a plant biologist. So I know something about encouraging a seed to grow.
Here I am in 2015 confidently posed by the weeds I was ready to conquer.
And here's a photograph of the
