ABSTRACT
The sound of Alex’s friend’s footsteps clacked down the apartment block’s stairwell as Alex closed the door behind her. She felt strangely elated, as if she had made some major positive life-changing commitment. In reality, all she had actually done was to agree to join an urban backyard farming cooperative that her friend had signed up for a while back. It was a loosely structured group that worked with mostly elderly people who had gardens that they struggled to maintain. The cooperative arranged for its members to grow vegetables on these under-utilized plots, sharing the harvest between the volunteers and the house-owner. Alex had committed four hours a week of her time, which seemed like a lot, until she figured her gym membership had expired and that working in the garden would be a healthy activity to substitute for the time, and money, that she had spent there. She had also long meant to get more fresh vegetables into her diet and so this seemed like a win–win outcome. It would be fun to meet some new people too – her friend had said they were a mixed bunch of backgrounds and interests, and that Alex would get on well. Alex’s spirits were high as she looked forward to starting something new and feeling that she really could make a useful contribution.
