Walking by the Berkeley Community Garden, I saw a sign that they were having their annual lottery for the vacant plots. It is just a couple blocks away from my apartment, so I thought it would be fun to go down and check it out. Almost on a whim, I put my name in the drawing. There are about 150 plots and about 15 were turning over. There were only about 15 there for the lottery, so almost everyone got one. I paid my $40 fee for the year and I’m now the proud custodian of an 11’ by 14’ area. I have until June 1st to have it “under cultivation”, or I’ll lose it to someone on the waiting list.

Here is what it looked like on the day it came to me, as left by the previous occupant:

DCP_5373

I went down the following day and started my cleanup. Here is what it now looks like:

DCP_5386