summer’s almost over

The end of our collective gardening project, ’summer homestead,’ was bittersweet. Just as the tomatoes and peppers had started to ripen, it was time to break down the structure and give away the plants. On Saturday afternoon, Governors Island visitors descended upon our homestead: some timidly pointing to the plants they wanted, others savagely yanking bottles off the structure in a true New Yorker fashion.

a G.I. visitor brings some tomato and basil plants home on her bike

Upon breaking apart the structure’s panels, we discovered that thousands of earwigs had colonized the summer homestead. We were simultaneously touched by this and completely creeped out, as swarms of shiny beetle-like insects with large serrated pinchers poured out of small holes in the wood.

leftover plants

In the end, we were  still left with more plants than we knew what to do with, not to mention an over-sized wooden structure. Thankfully, Paula, nuestras  patrocinadora fantástica offered to keep the structure on her rooftop patio in Brooklyn, so that the summer homestead could continue. We brought the structure to her apartment on a truck last night and will help her put it back together later this week (photos coming soon).

some plants find a new home near my recently washed underwear

for more information on this and the UHP’s other projects, visit urbanhomesteadingproject.org