Sunflower Power @ Community Garden

So much sunflower power at the other community garden. Despite my misgivings towards transplanting sunflower seedlings, the Taiwanese lady had been pretty lucky (ok, she lost a lot of seedlings along the way), but she managed to have at least 2 sunflower plants beaming away. The rest sort of drowned in the monsoon rains.

I haven't much lucky with sunflowers so I consoled myself with taking photos of her big flowers and admired my little roses. *grin*. Maybe I will try sunflowers next year when we reallocate the plots again.

The difference between the two gardens. The older established one has loads of trees, so I can burn a lot of energy cutting branches down and rearranging plants according to MU's direction. It's been pretty awesome, I spend like entire Saturday mornings and afternoons in the garden, only coming up to feed and water Bobo so he wouldn't rouse from his zombie state.

I was given a tiny garden plot, thanks to the irritating Mr L (long story). And since I have planted Kang Kong (to feed snails, it seems, I caught 10! in one afternoon climbing the banana tree), I don't have to maintain it much. But I have demonstrated experience with roses, so my unspoken role is to enhance the beauty of the garden and provide some muscle to the elderly uncles. I am planting some of my drought resistant, easy to maintain and cheap Blue Daze, and transplanting the numerous red and white balsam plants so they can mingle with the blue of the Blue Daze to create a prettier garden, which has what MU calls the "Kampung style". Unfortunately the kampung style is not appreciated by the uncle living on the 5th floor at my apartment block (who has written many unpleasant odes about it to the *ahem*, the Town Council and even the Police *wtf right?*).

As for the other garden, it doesn't have that many insects and irritating snails. Just a lot of colorful personalities. That's why I refused several times to join the committee. There is no need to, when there are more knowledgeable persons who refuse to join the committee (Uncle Flower + Auntie Red, the former expert in all things floral, the latter all things edible), and plenty of noobs who are surprisingly more vocal than me and eager to show their leadership skills. I was telling Mdm Bear about it, and she said that these people are missing the whole point of the community garden. The visible bounds tether the garden tightly to the community center and its politics, so much that the politics are spilling over into the garden. Just reading through the list of names quoted for the garden, I could barely stifle a snigger. Obvious much?

I am not going to translate the names. Sorry about that.

So anyway the chairman (see what I mean?) said that the current land allocation was unfair as some people has more land than others. To me, these persons are coincidentally housewives and retirees who can manage their time more flexibly, so I have come to accept that they take more land (acceptance also came with my father's scolding me for being a dumbass. "You're not a bloody farmer so why fight with the old people over the land?" were his words). But the chairman himself doesn't have any land except for two miserable lemon grass plants, because earlier in the year, he was busy with his kids' study and home life without a helper, to stake his claim. We didn't even see him for months, until the holidays when he suddenly called for the meeting.

Unfortunately this new plan to reallocate plots will shorten the lifespan of the already growing plants in the garden. Everyone has to unearth their plants in February so that compost can be dumped onto the soil and everyone will begin again with their teammate on their plots, which we will draw lots for. I disagree with the Chairman's idea that the plots should be rotated, especially since he wants us to grow flowers and some of the flowers we prefer are perennial. His new idea of rotating plots is coupled to his initial plan of certain plots being allocated to growing certain plants, e.g. flowers, herbs. 

Since then, I experimented with two of my herb plants and they were very upset with the upheaval, dropping leaves like mad. And that was after I left them in the garden in the pots to reduce the transplant shock, and I did the transplant during the less painful monsoon December season instead of the more aggressive and hottest February, driest time of the year.

IMHO, it would be better if he does it the British allotment style where everyone is allowed to grow whatever they want as long as they grow flowers and vegetables on their plot, instead of forcing people to grow specific plants just because they were suay enough to draw the plot they didn't want.

From what little I have observed, I am pretty sure I will clash with the chairman if I were on the committee (his eagerness to accept my rejection of the role over the others' protests was very telling *lol*), and other than the American and maybe the Filipinos, I am the youngest gardener in that community garden. Would burn too much energy (not the right kind) to work my "charm" on the 20 other members in the garden.

I have enough fun @ Arbeit, without having to manage other people's personalities even when I am doing my favorite gardening. I try to incorporate the lessons お母さん is painstakingly inculcating in my interaction with others, but sometimes the snark just manifests itself. I can't help my inner bitch. Better to keep her leashed and my head down to the ground. Keep calm and garden.