Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

The Chestnut Garden is the coldest garden. Interrupted last week by snow (!), Tuesday's mission was a chilly 35 degrees. The Posse showed up to the site bundled thickly in coats, hats, mittens, and wool socks. The cold would have scared off lesser Texans. But the Garden Posse is nothing if not totally hardcore.

Last week, our group had spaced out the dimensions of the garden before it started to snow (!). On the weekend, Greg and his neighborhood friends prepared the bed. So all we had to do was put the plants in the ground. We had a mix of vegetables (leafy greens, broccoli, and cabbage), and pansies. A million continuing thanks to Shoal Creek Nursery!

We also planted a vine that will crawl up the very large, cool, and dead tree, which you can see behind McAllen here.

We were joined by Jessica, one of those extremely nice people who knows everything about all the free stuff that the city has to offer (glass mulch! random dumps of wood mulch!).

Here Carly demonstrates the use of our new Cobrahead ("The Best Tool on Earth!"). It looks a bit like a pirate hook, and is scarily effective at pulling up grass, weeds, dirt, and what have you. It was donated to us by Geoff Valdes.

I'm not skilled at taking photos at night, but you get the gist of our wide spread of veggies and pansies. (Greg said he will eventually post better pictures with daylight.) We're getting the water from a neighbor across the street, and more neighbors have offered to be caretakers for the garden. There is a lot more space in the field beyond the garden and bus stop - hopefully, it will continue to grow.

After the successful planting, and sufficient freezing of extremities, the Posse retreated to Clementine's for warm drinks and music.



So that's it for guerrilla gardening in 2008. Hurrah for a successful year for the Garden Posse! Having begun our mission only four months ago, I'm amazed at the work we've done and the energy we've amassed. The Garden Posse will be even stronger and more exciting in 2009 - stay tuned! I'll be posting an update on beginning of the year plans soon.