Rebecca Sonniksen
Photos: (l) Rebecca Sonniksen, (m-r) Gwen Berry
Drive up Centerville Highway and you’ll see the sign, “Garden of Weedin,” lettered across a board dangling on the gate across from Doug Taylor’s property. The garden is gone, but the sign is a reminder of a time.
A time some twelve years ago when Doug and Dona Taylor, Rob and Madeline Taylor, and Barb and Ben Parrish, organized community members to gather in early spring to prep, plant, weed, and harvest the High Prairie Community Garden.
The name, “Garden of Weedin,” was given and the sign painted by Barb Parrish, inspired by the weeds that sprung up when this onetime cattle corral was plowed over to create the garden.
When my husband Scott and I prepared to move from our Portland home in 2015 to the High Prairie house/studio Scott had built, it was natural the Garden of Weedin would be a way to become part of this special community. Working alongside our new neighbors, pulling out weeds and trying to figure out the watering system seemed a good beginning.
First came the interview. Sitting in Doug’s living room with Rob we expressed our desire to be part of the garden group and our commitment to make the drive up from Portland as we established our gardening roots.
And welcome we were to participate in the garden and enjoy the plentiful produce harvested in this richly amended land, generously made available by Doug Taylor.
Over the years the garden supplied us with abundant produce gleaned from planter boxes lined up on one side, tomatoes twisting around trellis in the center, surrounded by rows of cucumbers, beans, beets, chard, spinach, zucchini’s, chicory, eggplants, garlic and potatoes and rows of corn. Towering along the back fence of the garden and sprinkled throughout were the giant sunflowers.
Up front by the gate in planter boxes there was a generous selection of herbs, thanks to the tender oversight of Bud Jester.
And while thinning out beets and plucking leaves off the tomatoes, we had great conversations with people we might otherwise never have talked to about family, travels, and food. Conversations about life.
The best part was the bountiful harvest and celebration at a member’s house, like the ones hosted by Diane Cazelet, who recently passed after a long illness. That was the time when we would relax around tables decorated with candles, gourds and pumpkins and enjoy one another’s favorite recipes and begin planning for next year’s garden.
It was a sweet time. Many of us have moved on, but the seeds we planted those summer days continue to be harvested years later as we remember; we did so much more together than alone and had such fun. It was truly a garden of inclusion and diversity.
My gratitude and thanks to all that made it possible, with a special thanks to Doug.