Joe was part of the Edible Schoolyard NYC garden at PS216 from the very first, sharing the challenges of starting a garden from scratch in complicated and unpredictable conditions. He was a master gardener, pouring love and a huge amount of work into the soil, and getting unbelievably abundant and delicious food back. Food that he enjoyed preparing, eating, and above all sharing.

"Joe's escarole" is a short way of describing what happens when someone sows seeds and they ALL germinate and get transplanted and grow like crazy. Boy, did we ever have escarole when Joe was around! And there were tomatoes for canning, tomatoes for salad, and plenty of tomatoes to sell at the farmstand or give away to friends. 

Last year I saved seeds from Joe's peppers and plum tomatoes. I know he saved his own seeds for decades, maybe 50 or 60 years, so I think we can honestly call them Joe's own varieties.

Joe was the only community member to have his own patch in the school garden. The "Joe's Garden" sign is still up and I think it will stay, right on the bed we planted with peppers and tomatoes, when he got sick and couldn't plant them himself. 

The garden will miss you, Joe, and so will all of us who work there!