T his year the weather has been tough in New York City. NYC has suffered tornados and drought as well as a poor financial forecast. Tom Twente's been gardening in the weather of NYC for years. Before the planned auction of 114 community gardens in 1999 for commercial development Tom was there planning a land trust for garden conservation. His work is devoted to community gardens and their sustainability. He's seen folks come and go and managed to quietly do the business of making sure these spaces survive beyond momentary personal visions, pop ideas and cold weather. Tom's recent work has been to establish facilities in Bronx and Brooklyn gardens through a capitol parks project. He invited me to stop by while he was putting up some holiday decorations at his own local community garden in the heart of Park Slope Brooklyn. I found him on a ladder stringing up pine boughs. It was a chilly day and my hands were turning red when I brought out my pocket moleskin notebook and