A Little Fence for the Sprout

I pushed past the front gate and walked down the quiet lane until I reached the neighborhood community garden. Right in the dark soil of an empty raised bed, a single green seedling was curling upward, looking... rather unprotected against the noon breeze. I searched through the gravel path and found four clean wooden craft sticks and a strip of twisted garden raffia. Using both hands, I pressed the sticks deep into the soft earth around the seedling like four corner posts. Then I wound the raffia gently around each peg to make a snug square fence. The sprout stood entirely safe in the center, swaying just enough to greet the sun.