I have a new friend with a giant garden

His name is Steve. Can you see him?Maybe you can't because the HUGE GARDEN that takes up his ENTIRE yard is in the way.

Can you see him here next to the 15-foot hight tomato plants?Or among his 10+ fig trees?Maybe he's hiding behind the escarole or the fennel.Oh, silly Steve. I guess he's shy. But that didn't keep him from chatting with me this morning and sharing some fresh figs.

I should retire my shovel out of deference to his urban gardening skills and manifest dedication. Apparently, he has to bundle up his fig trees at the end of each growing season and put them in his house. All ten! In his living room! And I think getting some chickens is a big deal.

Every square inch of his property is cultivated and trellised. He's semi-retired and spends his hours, largely with his sidekick-supercute grandson in tow, tending his crops. He's got gaggles of concord grapes within a week of peak ripeness which he claims to grow only for shade and he's invited me to pick as many as I want. This is too cool to be true. I have a neighbor who is a farmer who wants to give away his grapes and figs!