A beautiful morning!

Looking toward a parking lot (right) and the practice field (left).

I'd been looking forward to visiting The University of Memphis, my alma mater, for the The Delta--Everything Southern conference.  I knew there had been a lot of construction in honor of the university's 100th anniversary, but I was totally unprepared for one of the new additions.  Nestled in a formerly unkempt space surrounded by Elma Roane Field House, the band practice field/track, a parking lot, and a parking garage was the university's lovely urban garden.



In its third season, the Tiger Initiative for Gardening in Urban Settings (TIGUrS) is one of the university's green initiatives.  Faculty and student volunteers maintain the garden and any member of the university community may harvest from it.

I treated myself to a tour of the garden before settling down at one of the picnic tables to read a few pages of Nancy Goodwin and Ippy Patterson's Montrose:  Life in a Garden.

So grab a cup of tea and savor the visit.

Cinder blocks anchored with rebar.

Bamboo and string trellises

Marigolds are planted in the cinder block holes as insect barriers.

Bamboo and hog wire squash trellis

Artichoke(?) and lavender

Bamboo and string bean trellis

Detail of bamboo and string trellis

Squash "house"

Looking through the "squash house"

Trellis adjoining raised beds.  Field house in background.

Asparagus

Squash trellis and gladilous

Beds are two blocks high.

Looking toward the compost area at the corner of the field house and track.

Long bed with a metal corner trellis.

Side view of the connecting trellis.

Corn, squash, and marigolds

Corn and beans

"Bag" cultivation

Pergola at the west end of the garden

Seed starting in newspaper pots

Detail of newspaper starter pots

External sprinkler system keeps the beds moistened

Early morning

A perfect morning

Thank you for letting me share my morning with you!

What's happening in your garden?

Nancy