Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?  If Mary's garden is anything like the Robbins Farm Community Garden, it grows with a lot of community support. 

The Robbins Farm Garden is a pilot project of the Parks and Recreation Commission that began this past April and will continue through October.  The vegetable garden is a joint effort by community members, endorsed by the Friends of Robbins Farm Park and enjoyed by all who visit. 

For tours of the garden, there are green thumbs at work on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings unless the weather is awful.  Although, anytime a gardener is there, visitors are invited to stop by and ask for a tour of the garden. 

The goal of the garden is to bring people young and old together and create an educational gardening resource for the community.  Although the pilot program is only approved through October 2010, there is hope that its success will spur it on for years to come. If you're interested in joining the garden project, please contact the Arlington Recreation Department to be on next year's list.  The chart of the garden's 2010 crops includes the crop, variety, source, price and date planted.  Not only is this a great resource for garden visitors, but for those looking to create their own community or personal garden there is no shortage of detailed information. 

On the Robbins Farm Garden website you have a lot of great information compiled.  There are pictures of the garden this year as well as a link to the Robbins Farm Garden Veggie School.  The page is set up like a little garden with signs for each plant.  Once you click on eggplant, for example, you will get some specific information about the Robbins Farm eggplant as well as details about eggplant in general from where it got its name and where it came from to how it is eaten or prepared.  If you are more interested in the past than the present, there is a summary of Arlington's agricultural history.  From the bugs in the garden, to growing patterns and plant genus or classifications, the site is extremely well put together with a great deal of information without being completely overwhelming for a new gardener, or a virtual "passerby". 

Whether you go once a week over the next month and observe the garden change or just stop by the next time you head to Robbins' Farm Park for a play date, to have a picnic, watch a game or to attend Astronomy Night with Jeff Alexander, take a peek at the garden and see what you notice.