The Garden

A lengthy stretch of the narrow canal that wound through Wertingen was lined with private gardens about fifty feet wide and two hundred deep. Hubert's was shared by Benno and several others from town. They each maintained small sections of different crops and often traded with one another. Lettuce, tomato, string beans, potatoes, radish, green peppers, carrots, rhubarb, spring onions, and much more all thrived in rich black soil. Apples and plums fell from trees. Flowers, grapes, and raspberries colored wire fences between naturally cheerful neighbors.

 

 Hubert maintained a small shack there. The deer camp-like shelter had basic kitchen utilities, several shelves, and a table with a bench and chairs.

But in summer months it was more a place for storage. A semi-enclosed patio on the garden side of the shed provided the popular meeting point for frequent gatherings of friends, families, and neighbors. Like at the backroom workshop of his bicycle shop, he kept an ample supply of bottled beer and visitors dropped a Euro into a wooden bowl on the picnic table. Soft drinks were also available but it was unusual seeing a Bavarian drinking one.

 

I recognized most of the others from the bicycle shop but new faces often appeared. Being a guest of any of the regulars guaranteed acceptance into the small group and it was always a privilege to visit Hubert's garden on the edge of town. After a couple of beers, Benno gathered a colorful variety of vegetables and, back at the house, simmered a fine pot of fresh soup that would provide the daily meal for the next couple of days.