Contents

PROLOGUE: Planting the Seed

Breaking Ground

First Garden

Weeds

Neighbors

Cats

Dirt

First Harvest

Seeds

Compost

Oranges and Roses

Manual Labor

A Growing Season

Tourists

Insects, Good and Bad

Houseplants

Clearing a Path

First Visitor

Tomatoes

Basil

Surplus Produce

Fall Migration

EPILOGUE: Starting Over

Letter to the Next Gardener at 118 Buena Vista

Acknowledgments