Community Gardens

A few weeks ago, I was at Woodbury Lakes, an outdoor shopping area. I noticed signs for a community garden. In a suburban mall gathering space, in raised beds by the tables and chairs and under trees, and instead of flowers, there were baby vegetables trying to make a go of it in the world. Peppers, cucumbers, herbs, all kinds of stuff. I thought it was cool. I sketched a patch of the herb garden and looked at signs indicating the public could take some items when they were ready.

Here’s the finished sketch. I used Pitt pens and then watercolors, and accents with white Gelly roll pens.

A few weeks later, I went back to see how the garden was going. It looked like it could use a little more water, but the veggies were growing! I sat at a table and sketched the baby cucumbers that were growing up on a little trellis. It’ll be awhile before you can eat those!

Here’s the finished sketch. Even cucumbers make a cool sketch!

Another week, I was at Loring Park in Minneapolis. They too, had a community garden. But this one was not available for the public, people had signed up for a raised garden and tended it on their own. But it was a beautiful mix of herbs, tomato plants, and other vegetables. I thought that was great that the gardens could provide families with food.

It was a lovely setting for a community garden. I sketched, then added watercolors. Later at home I added more layers of color to deepen values and make it richer.

All these gardens make me want to do one of my own! But I am also a lazy gardener, and like to get my veggies at a farmer’s market or store. Kudos to these people who have a green thumb and are willing to share with the community!