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Garden Talk with an Utterly Confused Neighbor

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Gardening· The Woods

1 Jun

I was stooped over in the hot sun, soil up to my elbows and sweat running down my brow. Earthworms wriggled at my fingertips as I pushed tiny seeds into neat little rows.

I was in my element, my own little world. It may as well have been miles away, on a quaint country road, instead of smack dab in the middle of the city, with it’s hustle bustle and never-ending noise.

It isn't everyday you run across someone who doesn't understand the concept of growing food...

My daydreams were suddenly interrupted when someone shouted at me from the other side of the fence.

“Hey! Heeeey!”

I was startled at the sound of a loud voice interrupting my tranquil moments. I’m used to neighbors and strangers alike asking questions about our urban homestead activity in the front yard, and gladly answer their questions… but today I was in the backyard, and having a complete stranger waltz up to the fence threw me for a loop. This introvert suddenly wished we had installed taller fences.

I turned around to find I was being watched by a hefty woman in her early 40’s.

“Whatcha doin, diggin’ for gold?” She said.

“No, I’m working in the garden.”

“Whatcha diggin’ in the dirt for? You’re gettin’ all muddy!”

“Well, I’m planting seeds in our garden.”

“MmmmHmmm…” She sounded, but didn’t leave.

-A moment later-

“Flower seeds?”

I could see that she had no intention of going on her way until she had a clear understanding of why I was up to my elbows in the soil.

“No, not flowers, we’re growing food.”

“FOOD?!” What kinda food?!”

And here I was thinking I was done teaching for the day when I left my students behind at school. I took the opportunity to spout out a quick lesson on basic agriculture. This was not the first time I’d schooled a neighbor on where food comes from and probably wouldn’t be the last.

“These are seeds for tomato, cucumber, and pepper plants. I’m planting them in this garden bed and when they grow, they’ll produce fruits and vegetables for us to eat. We’re trying to grow as much as our own food as we can.”

For a moment I was proud of myself for teaching something new to a stranger. Then I saw the utterly confused look on her face.

Oh boy, here we go…

“….You know they sell food at the Rite Aid right around the corner? They have everything over there, chips, juice, they even got cheese!”

Sigh….

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

At that, she finally went on her merry way, happy that she’d saved another soul from having to dig in the dirt to make food.

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25 Comments

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Comments

  1. Heather Jackson says

    June 1, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    Ha! I love it! Too bad Rite-Aid doesn’t sell those higher fences! Oh! Or a weird neighbor repellent force field! Now THAT would be useful!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 2, 2015 at 7:12 am

      Hahaha I know right??

      Reply
      • AJ says

        June 10, 2015 at 3:35 pm

        Seems a bit creepy unless you were visible from the street. That’s a sad state of our population to think that what Rite -Aid sells is food. What they sell is a means to make repeat customers as those who live off of processed chemical laiden faux food products will in no doubt be the same ones filling the lines at their pharmacies. The day they sell actual whole natural food is the day they can lay-off their pharmacists.

        Reply
      • Laurie says

        September 22, 2015 at 5:50 am

        yeah.. but at the same time you planted a tiny weeny seed in her mind.. and as small as it is, it might grow one day, when you least expect it.. although we might not be the one seeing the results.. 🙂

        Reply
  2. *Chicken slave* says

    June 2, 2015 at 7:16 am

    Hahaha!!:)
    why don’t people know about things like growing you own food and raising chickens!!:)
    (*sigh*)!!
    XX

    Reply
  3. *Chicken slave* says

    June 2, 2015 at 7:17 am

    I LOVE website btw!!:)
    when I read your posts it makes my day!!!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 2, 2015 at 8:11 pm

      Awww thank you so much! I love hearing that, it makes me want to keep going! It’s not always easy to find the motivation every day, but readers like you make it happen! 🙂

      Reply
  4. *Chicken slave* says

    June 2, 2015 at 7:19 am

    ahhhrrrgh sorry,
    your website!!

    Reply
  5. Kathy Sturr of the Violet Fern says

    June 2, 2015 at 9:41 am

    Ha ha ha! This reminds me of the confused lady in the grocery store who kindly pointed out the deal on ketchup and the look on her face when I reached for the organic corn-syrup-free expensive ketchup instead!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 2, 2015 at 8:12 pm

      Hahaha we’ve had SO many grocery store experiences like that Kathy! Hmmm, I sense another post coming!

      Reply
  6. Carmen says

    June 2, 2015 at 11:00 am

    If I was earnestly looking for information or just trying to be neighborly, your attitude would quickly nip it.

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 4, 2015 at 7:21 pm

      While I understand your point of view, please understand that I was in my fenced-in backyard, and a complete stranger walked into my yard and began grilling me about what I was doing. I was understandably startled and a bit uncomfortable with being approached in my private backyard. I did take the time to be polite and answer her questions, when I could have easily just asked her to leave. We have a wonderful relationship with all of our neighbors, we talk with them frequently about our urban homestead, answer their questions, and give them eggs from our chickens. As teachers, we love to educate those who are curious. This particular interaction certainly threw me for a loop. My stories are all written in a comedic and sarcastic tone, it’s not for everyone, and luckily there are plenty of other blogs out there in internet-land if you don’t enjoy it.

      Reply
  7. Lori says

    June 2, 2015 at 11:09 am

    That’s some funny stuff right there……pathetic, but FUNNY!!!

    Reply
  8. Grace Jolliffe says

    June 2, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    Should have told her that the food that comes from your chips, juice and cheese plants is much cheaper than the food in Rite-Aid 🙂
    Best wishes
    Grace

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 2, 2015 at 8:12 pm

      I really should have Grace! At the moment I was so baffled by her response I couldn’t think of anything else to say hahaha

      Reply
      • Gail Gardner says

        June 7, 2015 at 2:40 pm

        I would have told her that most of the “food” in stores isn’t “food” at all. It is ruining everyone’s health instead of nourishing their bodies. (Of course, it is harder to know what to say when in the moment of surprise.)

        Personally, I eat almost 100% organic, but I have to ship some of it in to do that. I haven’t been in a grocery store in over a year as most of them don’t sell what I want to buy.

        Reply
  9. Pamela says

    June 5, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    I love it!
    We have a great relationship with most of our neighbors. They’re always sticking their head over our wall and asking us questions about the garden or bees it chickens or fruit trees… We realized awhile ago that we’re the neighborhood entertainment! Mostly, I think they are amazed we can grow any type of food in the harsh desert weather we have. I love teaching pepple that no matter the environment, you can always grow something!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 6, 2015 at 1:20 pm

      Hahah we’re definitely the neighborhood entertainment as well! I don’t know what they’ll all talk about when we leave!

      Reply
  10. Heather says

    June 8, 2015 at 8:07 am

    We had someone visit a long time ago… they were backpacking across country (strangers) and stayed at our house for supper. We were having burgers and fries, and the woman got a look of total confusion when potatoes started to be cut up. She asked ‘what do you need potatoes for?’ we said ‘for french fries?’ She said (with a horrified look on her face that she was staying somewhere that would feed her weird potato fries) ‘Fries are not potatoes, they come in a bag at the grocery store’… people have NO IDEA where their food comes from. It makes me really proud that our 2 year old knows bacon comes from our pigs belly, or that they can grab eggs from the chickens to make omelets, or that milk comes from a cow, and she can identify the difference between a pepper and tomato sprout 🙂

    Reply
  11. Oleksandra Budna says

    June 8, 2015 at 10:18 am

    just came across your blog. Really enjoyed reading this post! It’s funny and also sad that a lot of people are so food illiterate. We live in an apartment building so no backyard unfortunately but we manage to grow lots of food on our balcony. Kids love it.

    Reply
  12. Paul says

    June 8, 2015 at 11:36 am

    Well, this article was amusing. But, maybe this lady wasn’t that confused or ignorant in what you were doing. Maybe, just maybe. She was a lonely soul looking for a human connection and some conversation. A lot of people come across as a little less than normal when wanting to start a conversation. She could have thought she was being funny. I always make it a point to stop what i’m doing. Walk over and chat for a few minutes. We never know if those few minutes in talking with her. Might have been the bright spot in her day. We never know about other people lives. It doesn’t hurt to give a smile and a kind word. There are many ways to plant seeds. Some are seeds of human kindness. Just a thought ~

    Reply
  13. Toni says

    June 9, 2015 at 10:37 am

    Oh my gosh, I think you handled that pretty well considering the intrusion in your private space. More people need to learn about growing your own food; and apparently a few more need to learn boundaries LOL

    Reply
  14. Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says

    June 23, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    Meredith, loved this! You handled it well. I’m an introvert, too, and one who’s not *always* happy to be chatting in my front yard let alone my back yard!

    Reply
    • Meredith says

      June 23, 2015 at 8:23 pm

      Hahaha thanks Jean! I’ve caught quite a lot of slack for this post from people who must not understand us introverts and our intense need for privacy!

      Reply
  15. Connie Gordon says

    February 5, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    I have seriously nosy neighbors who peek over the back fence. In the front yard, I have several garden beds and am used to people stopping to chat and even have people taking pictures but my rude next door neighbors really startle me when they poke their head over the fence. I can understand how you feel. Next time I think I will accidentally spray them with the hose….ok maybe not but I wish they would not peek over our fence all the time it is just weird. They never talk to me when they are in the front yard. I guess it is just a strange passive aggressive thing. I really enjoy this blog.

    Reply

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