After 17 years, the cicadas are re-emerging in droves in Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia right now.  Similarly, our garden community  is experiencing a rebirth as we too return to our gardens.  

RIOC has agreed to allow members and associates to return, but visitors and guests must remain outside the gates.  The water has been turned on for our plants and for washing our hands.  It’s great to see old friends working their gardens again, but things are not as they were.  Things will not be "normal" for a long time. Now we are keeping our distance, wearing our masks, and not taking the shortest route as we navigate to the most empty paths in the garden. 

There are no shortcuts to getting back to normal.  It may seem like a 17 year wait at times, but we have to take it in stages.  Currently our agreement with RIOC does not allow us to use shared or borrowed tools.  This means that you need to use your own tools, and not use tools that another member used, even if they “appeared" to be healthy. Some may be upset that we were forced to lock the communal shed, but I have recently polyurethane coated all the wooden handle tools making them less porous, which in turn makes them easier to sanitize, which lays the groundwork to eventually making them usable in the future.  As for power electric tools, the only one who will handle them is Vaughn.  

It is easy to become complacent and to assume everything is as it was, but we should all proceed with caution and understanding. Please follow the rules. Use gloves and sanitize surfaces and assume that others might not be as thorough as yourself.  Keep your distance from others at least 6 ft away. If you and your neighbor or friend are both gardening, you might not want to spend extended periods of time near each other.  Staying home is the safest option. If you come to the garden, try to come at off peak hours.  We appreciate your support because we are very lucky to have our little garden of Eden, even if it's in the eye of a storm.