IanDuncan.com

OK call me a nerd or whatever, I’m used to it. But I decided to take an ugly little patch of the city and beautify it this morning. It’s a spot I pass many times every day, and so do thousands of others. And it’s nasty, full of garbage, broken glass, cigarettes, and weeds. But I noticed how well the weeds were growing there in this tiny strip of dirt between the sidewalk and this railing, SO, I decided if weeds could grow so well there, then so could some beautiful flowers.

I kept putting off doing it because it’s kind of embarrassing going out on the street alone to do some gardening, lol. So I thought I’d enlist one of my pothead friends to keep me company late at night while I transformed this spot into my garden, because only someone high on pot would find this an interesting thing to do in the middle of the night. But all my pot smoking friends would always pass out at night just when it was the perfect, quiet time to go out and do this. So after a couple months of waiting for someone to help me, I decided to just do it myself early this morning. My boyfriend Leo was sound asleep in my bed, I was wide awake, and there was nobody on the street. So I figured, it’s now or never!

So down I went with my little dollar store garden rake and pulled out every living plant I could find in that strip of dirt, put it all in a bag and threw it away. Then I poured some nice new soil on top of everywhere I wanted to put some plants, planted a truckloads of all kinds of amazing seeds, packed it down and watered it all. But then the best part happened. Just as I was feeling like such a nerd, a man who lives in the apartment behind where I was doing this, came over to me to tell me that he thought what I was doing was so great, and he had a big smile on his face. And really, that was my whole motivation behind doing this. To take something ugly and depressing, and make it beautiful to brighten the moments of the people who pass by my new secret street garden. So it’s already achieved it’s goal, even before it started, lol. And now I’m really looking forward to sitting on my balcony and watch people take pictures of each other in front of my new garden, and that will make my day in such a big way. And in case you’re curious, I decided to do this because of this poem I used to have taped up in my old office:

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of
false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)

So now all I have to do is wait and let the little seeds do their thing. I’m going to photograph my garden every 2 weeks until it’s all grown. Today I’m starting with the very first photos to show you the spot I chose to improve, which doesn’t show much but some small strips of dirt. But keep checking back every 2 weeks to watch them little things grow and transform my street.