A Brooklyn Girl’s Guide to Sunday: Edible Schoolyard’s Berkeley Plant Sale

There’s almost nothing cuter than really tiny children running around carrying vegetable plants in the rain, with little hands and little raincoats. That was the scene the Saturday morning that we swung by the Edible Schoolyard Plant Sale in Berkeley. It was drizzling and then it was full-on raining, but that deterred no one– which, coming from the culture of “run for cover at the first sight of a rain drop” in New York City, was an amazing level of comfort to behold. One little boy stood out in front of a hay bed holding three giant, oversized paper cache eggs, explaining to his father that he was waiting for the dinosaurs to hatch. His father had to break the news to him that you actually can’t predict when they’ll hatch, so it could be hours, if not days.

Another trio ran around banging a bell and instructing garden-tour participants to gather under the big tree near to where the plants were being sold, while coffee-drinkers huddled under the roof where Four Barrel Coffee was giving out pour overs for one ticket each. Pizza was being fired up in its own oven for three tickets a pop, and the hibiscus iced tea was highly recommended. Inside, students were prepping kabobs, meatballs, and samosas.

The garden glistened in the rain and the food was heart- and soul-warming, but the plant sale represented something beyond that. There was the sense of community that seeped into every water-soaked bale of hay and strawberry that was dropped accidentally. The gathering felt like a bunch of neighbors who might or might not have known each other coming together to support their local kids– but also to support the earth and the plants that it grows. Families wheeled out plastic carts of basil as the compost pile grew and grew. The table of annuals was almost empty and people walked out to their cars with Iris plants in each hand. I felt like I had found my people.