“Do you see this?” Stephen Bartlett crouched down and delicately lifted a leaf from a sprawling groundcover I mistook for a weed. My daughter crouched beside him. “This is mint. If you have a stomachache, this is what you make tea out of,” he told my daughter and my son as he led us around the outer edge of the garden. “We have four or five varieties of mint.” He pulled off a leaf I recognized from mint juleps past, crushed it between his dirt-covered fingers, and offered it to my daughter to smell. She passed it on to her little brother. “Mmmmmmnnn,” Bartlett hummed.
Bartlett proudly toured my family around the John Leake Memorial Garden, belonging to Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church and his organization, Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville (SAL). He is the chief gardener and the head of the summer Garden Camp the two organizations co-run. While this is his volunteer position, you’d never know it.
Bartlett, who lives only a block away, spends most days cultivating the small plot. He showed my children wild onion, garlic, rhubarb, and lettuce, stopping frequently to explain what the crop was and how to cook it. He handed me wild asparagus. It was tender and the thin stalk melted in my mouth. We walked to a tall stand of mustard greens, blossoming with yellow flowers. Bartlett pulled off parasitic harlequin beetles and crushed them as he talked.
“Saute these greens in some oil, a little soy sauce, and add some garlic at the end,” said Bartlett.
Originally hailing from Long Island, Bartlett moved to Louisville in 1996, via China and the Dominican Republic, where he met his wife and began to garden. On a visit to Japan, he met philosopher and farmer Masanobu Fukuoka, who taught him sustainable agriculture. Since moving to Louisville, Bartlett founded SAL, a nonprofit that trains aspiring gardeners. The Garden Camp, beginning in 2001, was SAL’s first project. Bartlett works full-time for Agricultural Missions, an international food justice organization.
Bartlett first suggested turning the green space behind the church into a community garden 15 years ago. He maintains the garden with help from volunteers with whom he shares the bounty. Now the space boasts spring and summer yields of 67 different vegetables and herbs, a closet-sized green house constructed from spare lumber and plastic sheeting, raspberry and blackberry bushes, gala apple trees, and two fig trees bulging with budding fruit.
Bartlett was patient with my son who impulsively plucked a baby fig. “We need to let them grow,” Bartlett explained. He is a gentle teacher.
As we prepared to leave, Bartlett handed us two Kroger bags full of greens. His eyes shined with affection for the garden he brought to life. With a kiss on the cheek, he departed. I turned back to wave, but he was already hidden inside the greenhouse, coaxing seedlings to life.
–Amy MIller
How to buy remedies online at best prices? In fact, it is formidably to find of repute drugstore. Kamagra is a far-famed medication used to treat impotence. If you’re concerned about sexual dysfunction, you probably know about dosage of levitra. What is the most vital info you have to know about levitra doses? More information about the problem available at levitra dose. Perhaps you already know something about the matter. Usually, having difficulty getting an erection can be embarrassing. This disease is best solved with professional help, generally through counseling with a certified doctor. Your dispenser can help find the option that is better for your condition. We hope that the information here answers some of your questions, but please contact physician if you want to know more. Professional staff are experimental, and they will not be shocked by anything you tell.
Reading this I wonder if my raspberry bramble (a renewable source of joy) bought from a $2 start at the church about 5 years ago is really a gift from this organization…