Growing Closer
Since the tragedy of 9/11, many people are focusing on life’s simple pleasures, such as staying closer to home and spending more time with friends and family.
UAW Local 900 members took that idea one step further this summer to rediscover the joys of gardening.
More than a dozen employees at Ford Motor Co.’s Wayne (Mich.) Assembly facility planted a Solidarity Garden on Local 900 grounds. It’s filled with flowers and vegetables, including tomatoes, squash, green peppers and string beans.
Similar to the Victory Gardens of WWII, the 30-by-30-feet garden doubles as a learning lab for a class taught by master gardener Laura Messer. Her class features proper techniques of flower and vegetable gardening, along with soil conservation.
On a recent hot afternoon, they harvested green peppers and gave the last few tomato plants some TLC. There will be more before the harvesting season comes to an end, and many a dinner table will serve up this nourishment for the body and mind.
