Vermont Street Garden

Headmasters salon sits in a beautifully restored home up several well worn steps off the sidewalk just south of 8th on the west side of Vermont. Jim Grimes has owned the salon for years and tended the stunning gardens immediately surrounding the property. An array of flowers and herbs are simply a part of walking this stretch of downtown, and honestly, I never gave it much though until this year. Just beyond the salon gardens stands a vacant lot that has, at various times, been an unsightly field of weeds, or a somewhat more sightly field of mowed weeds. This is the kind of lot you'd expect to find aluminum cans, styrofoam cooler lids, random convenience store garbage and the occasional dated avocado Kenmore, well beyond its warranty years. The past few years this lot has been a community garden plot home to a few dedicated gardeners and a few that seem to start the spring strong, then get caught up in summertime as the weeds take over. Josh Millstein, one of the owners of the Casbah Market teamed up with Jim this year to create a serious garden in this space, rows of vegetables, herbs and even more flowers. The Casbah deals some of this produce at their shop, along with a variety of crops from other local growers. Teller's has actually had vegetables on the plates at dinner that are still warm from the heat of the day-Josh brings them over on foot in the afternoons. Spicy mustard greens, romaine, snap peas and potatoes are a few of the goods we've featured on specials so far this season. Take a walk around the garden or stop in at the Casbah to check it out.