“Build it and they will come,” Phil Alden Robinson wrote in his movie “Field of Dreams”. That’s what I feel has happened in my garden, especially when Matt popped up from behind my fence and said “Wow, cool,” in his hippie Californian surfer dude way.
Matt’s doing a work-exchange-for-food deal with me. And so far, he’s been an amazing help, spraying seaweed/fish emulsion, taking out old plants and planting new ones, removing weeds, and tying up tomato plants. I couldn’t have asked for a better helper. Two days ago, he helped me and my neighbor, Lynn, clean up her peach tree and pick its fruit. We’ve been using the Fruit Exchange and plain ol’ neighborliness to get rid of the surplus. Sweet white peaches!
Here’s a photo of my new protege (although I think he’s teaching me more than I’m teaching him):
Matt will be a junior at Humboldt State next year if he doesn’t take the year off. He also works at the Rolling Hills Methodist Church Kid Zone camp during the week, teaching music to the kids. He plays mandoline and knows a lot of Greatful Dead tunes.