Eleanor Pardee Park

in Palo Alto, site of a fabulous community garden and Master Gardeners demonstration garden.



The MG demo garden has two parts, vegetable and ornamental. The latter features familiar natives and other water-wise workhorses.













I was surprised and delighted to find ripe currants on Ribes sanguineum. Usually the birds get them, first thing. They aren't very tasty to humans anyway, but aren't they pretty?





The vegetable gardens here are always padlocked which is a shame. Who steals vegetables from gardens in Palo Alto, anyway? That's so weird.





My life's dream is to move to the suburbs--where it's warm enough for vegetable gardening--and grow squash on an arbor! And corn!



The MG's have a fair amount of signage in accordance with their mission to educate. This is about growing blueberries in the Bay Area.







The MG potager is exquisitely well-maintained. Meanwhile, jubilant chaos prevails the gardens of the hoi polloi.







Asparagus can be a real mess, but I want to grow that some day too.





A lot of ornamental plants grow throughout the community garden plots too--roses, dahlias, buddleia, verbascum, this massive, 6'x6' Leonotis leonurus.









This is a fine place to pass an hour or so when you're in Palo Alto. The address is 851 Center Drive and the website is here. The entrance is dark under the shade of oaks, and the garden is obscured from the street behind thick vegetation. It's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Park on the street and wander in.

White Crane Springs Community Garden

Today was the second time this week I tried to visit the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately, just like the last time, Golden Gate Park was packed and there was no parking available anywhere near the Garden's entrances. From where I entered on 7th, all the way to 19th Avenue, not a single spot! Unbelievable! What I should have done, what I will do next time, is park outside the Park on Lincoln. And, no, I'm not going to take public transportation. I am not known for masochism.

Anyway: Argh!

Then I decided to visit the nearby Garden for the Environment. But there were people working, and the light was too bright for taking pictures...

I took a few anyway, along the sidewalk.









Then I remembered the community garden across the street that I made a mental note to explore.

So, that's what this blog post is about.



Don't let the spring-y look of recent blog posts fool you. It's not snowing, but it's still plenty cool. Definitely not vegetable-growing weather. Furthermore, as this garden is squarely in San Francisco's fog belt, where one might argue it is never vegetable-growing weather. At least not for summer vegetables.

Yet since we have no frost, we can grow greens all year. And that is just what many vegetable gardeners do.

I have not brought you to this garden to wow you, but we are here. So let's check it out.

















Bee hives:









Then I want to show you what I pulled over for on the way home:







Goats!

Eleanor Pardee Community Gardens in Palo Alto, CA

I guess some people see this garden and think, "What a waste. How inefficient. This space could be so much more productive."



I suppose some people would have a point. After all, does the world really need more sweet peas? Sweet peas are lovely, but people can't eat them.



In an age of "global warming, depleted fossil fuels, and disease", shouldn't we be working together in the garden instead of doing our own thing?



With a comprehensive plan and division of labor, this place could be cooking with gas.



I suppose if that's what you want, it's fine for you.



I, however, will opt out.



Unless and until we're talking about an immediate and serious crisis, I'd rather do my own thing.



For starters, I'll be looking at the flowers.











One immediate and serious crisis that I'm totally down with is the drought. I'm all over the regionally appropriate ornamentation.