I have a huge confession to make. My thumb, it’s brown. I’ve perfected the art of picking and eating veggies, am a big fan of the farmer’s market and all things farm stand related. But, please, don’t give me something and ask me to make it grow. The chance of seeds actually becoming veggies is embarrassingly slim.

My mother-in-law knows this, but I’m pretty sure thinks I’m just unwilling to invest the necessary time into our backyard plots where she can – seriously – stick a seed into the ground and it will turn into gold. The woman can grow anything.

I need some of her juju.

I do dream of flowing vines of zucchini, of sharing veggies with our neighbours over the fence, of tents made of beans where the tiny person can find some shade in the Summer and admire the enormous sunflowers I planted along the edge of the garden.

Apparently, I need a gardening community.

This need for a community around growing food started when I was a kid. Yeah, my parents had a garden. But, every Summer our neighbours made the long drive back to their family farms in the middle of country and, one year, they took me.

That Summer, my pal and I spent day after day lost in the corn fields, riding tractors, walking long dirt roads to drop off fresh eggs, picking lettuce out of the next farm’s field and pulling onions at the one after that.

No one ever asked who we were or what we were doing there. It was simply accepted that – if you knew where the vegetables grew then you could take what you needed for that evening’s meal.

It made so much sense to me.

Twenty five years later, it gives me the same sort of “Wow” to begin to gather a community of families to garden together as today we are registering for plots at the new Our Big Earth Family Community Gardens in partnership with the Comox Valley Regional District.

Here’s the scoop:

We have eight plots available for families to garden on this year that are FREE to families on a first-come, first-served basis.

Because this is a bit of a pilot project and the compost centre is a secure site, there are some things to consider when jumping in.

• The plots are small – 3X3 – but in raised beds that can hold a lot and are very family-friendly
• Families can garden only during the compost centre’s regular hours: Thursdays 1 to 7 p.m.
  Fridays Noon to 5 p.m.
  Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.
  
• Organic gardening practices are present at all times. No pesticides or fertilizers allowed. The great thing is that the compost centre contract educator Pattie is on site when families are on site so she can guide you through the whole process, provide tips and troubleshoot when things get confusing.
• As a part of the community garden practice, we ask that families plant a row in their gardens as a “Community Row” for the Comox Valley Food Bank.
• Families will be able to begin gardening May 7 after a very small amount of paperwork has been completed.
  

That’s it.

So, if you are dreaming, like me, of a community where your family can garden and need a little space in which to do it, drop us an E-mail and we’ll get you all signed up.

My thumb is turning green already.:)