Gardens, Sea and Art Tour: community garden

Saturday, 20 July 2019

Ocean Shores

From Markham to Ocean Shores was an hour’s drive.  Upon arrival, we were surrounded by water on three sides.

This tourism map hints at the complexity of roads and canals in the small city of Ocean Shores.

Gardens, Sea and Art tour

presented by the WSU Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties

We began at Garden by the Sea.

Peter and Kilyn awaited us there so that we could do the tour together.

I found it an excellent idea to have the plant sale at the first tour stop instead of somewhere in the middle.

Allan’s photo

Kilyn told us that in Richmond, British Columbia, community gardens are not allowed to have fences or even signs warning against plant theft! Nor can they have sheds.  I thought about how in the UK, each allotment plot gets a little shed of its own.

plant sale

Speaking of sheds…

We toured the garden beds of both flowers and food.

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a place with a view of a community garden?

At the center of the garden stood a beautiful carved pillar. I could not make out what it said, lacking the patience to go round and round.

And there was compost….

…with a list of compostables.

Now the four of us were off to the first of eight private gardens.  To my delight, these were not designed gardens of the rich but gardens from the heart.  One of the missions of this tour each year is to show gardens that are created by the owners, often without big money.  Please remember that while reading and commenting, and especially remember that the garden owners might be reading the posts. There are blogs that criticize and review gardens.  This is not one of them.  I appreciate anyone who dares to open their garden for a tour.