He Wastes No Space

I read an anecdote about Ralph Moore, the legendary California rose hybridizer.  He was leading a visitor around his jammed property overflowing with all kinds of roses along with other plants bursting out of every imaginable inch of available space. squeezing upward from spilled compost that had fallen between pots of roses, from low spots on fence posts, from discarded seed packets, everywhere.  Moore remarked to his visitor:  "If you have a space and don't plant something, God will."

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I think about that story when I pass by a neighbor's property.  The neighbor has managed to wedge an entire productive vegetable garden in between two guard rails on the side of the road, in what is a strip of asphalt paving with a water supply:
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Using recycled nursery pots and old buckets with holes drilled in them, this wonderful neighbor has grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, onions.
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It was not until we took a walk by that I saw he'd stuck some boards up against the backside of the curb to create a place to grow garlic:
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Magic.  Like Ralph Moore, perhaps my neighbor believed this asphalt strip could grow something, and decided to beat God to it. 

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