Run Joe

Every year I grow banana peppers(shout out to Gwen Stefani for the spell check). I never eat them, I’m not sure I’ve ever even had one. So let’s go back a few years and find out the reason why I do it. Oh and don’t let the title fool you, this has nothing to do with Washington DC as much as I love the 202! Shout out to Chuck Brown for a go-go classic as well!

“I think I can start a community garden there, can I get $500?” That was all I said and I was met by a silent room. Insert cricket sounds for a more dramatic effect. Then a friendly voice said “Ok we can do that!” And that was how I started my first garden. As I’m leaving the meeting someone came up to me and said “Oh we tried to put a garden there before, it worked alright.” Now this individual had never said anything to me before, so immediately I'm thinking “Why the heck(I didn’t say heck) are you talking to me now? I mean I didn’t say it out loud, but those were my thoughts. 

So as I began to construct and build this individual due to a lack of communication between the two of us tilled his own section and said “I’m going to do what I want where I want.” This of course caused me to be extremely frustrated. And anytime he looked my way or said something to me that frustration would come out in my glances or my words. And his response would be something along the lines of “Oh excuse me Mr.Organic, is this ok?” or “Oh Oh am I wrong for doing this?” Anytime someone would mention his name I would open my mouth to curse, but I was always stopped and told “He’s a good guy man.”

Now technology wasn’t his thing, mainly due to his age. He missed the email thread about a huge gardening event I had scheduled one day. So he showed up with his trailer to do his thing with his plot. He was visibly annoyed, yet he walked up to me and said “Do you have any banana pepper seeds?” I actually did so I gave him the seed pack for him to take whatever he wanted. A few minutes later he walks back up to me with a bag. “I’ve got some chicken manure, can you use that?” And that was the moment our relationship changed. 

I mentioned that he showed up that day with a trailer. Little did I know at the time that he would show up with his trailer without telling anyone and would cut the grass at the garden. How did I figure this out? One day I was planting seeds(big surprise) and showed up to cut the grass. So while I planted seeds, he cut grass. When we both had a free minute we sat and had a conversation that lasted about three hours. He told me a hilarious story about how his wife told him to cut some collard greens one day, because she was busy. So he went outside with a pair of scissors and began cutting them. FYI that’s not how you do it. After laughing about that I asked him about his wife and he informed me that she had passed away years before. I offered my condolences and we kept it moving. 

From that day on we would randomly show up at the garden together and talk about any and everything under the sun. One day he showed up and we sat and talked again. I simply said “Joe how are you doing?” His reply “Well I have good days and bad days.” Then we sat in silence for a minute. We knew he had been having some health issues, a few of us knew he was dealing with cancer. So when I asked how he was doing, he was comfortable enough to tell me the truth. He didn’t come to cut the grass that day, he just came to pay a visit.

About two weeks later I saw Joe at a weekend function. On night one they ran out of food. He saw there was nothing on my plate and offered me what he had. “Joe man! I can’t take your food!” “TAKE IT, IT’S FINE!” was his reply, as he pushed his plate towards me. The next day when I saw him I catered to whatever he needed. I got a chair for him. I fixed his plate. Whatever he needed I made sure he had it. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to, and I respected him. At that point Joe was my guy!

Less than two months later Joe passed away. I found out on a Wednesday afternoon and I just sat in silence thinking about him. Then I made 2 decisions. The first was that I would plant a fruit tree in the garden on behalf of everyone we lose. The second was that I would plant banana(again thanks Gwen Stefani) peppers every single summer for the rest of my life in honor of Joseph L. Young. Joe passed away in 2019 and here I am 5 years later still planting banana peppers in honor of my guy “Joe Lee”

I started the community garden to grow food, had no idea that it would grow relationships. There is something about being in nature surrounded by plants that brings people together. I have countless examples of people stopping to talk to me about whatever was on their mind. I’m no therapist, literally I’m just outside working in a hip hop shirt, cargo pants(pocket full of seeds) covered in dirt. For some reason that makes people really comfortable to share. Joe and I had no relationship, but banana peppers and chicken manure brought us together. I can say he made me a better gardener, he also made me a better listener and a better man. I’m thankful for having the ability to create a safe space where anyone can share anything with a guy wearing a hip hop shirt, cargo pants(pocket full of seeds),covered in dirt. Who knows, maybe this will be the year I actually eat one of the banana peppers. And of course I spelled banana wrong in the previous sentence….SMH Gwen Stefani would be disappointed. This story was D.O.P.E.

(This story was written as “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani played nonstop in my head!)