Green Thumbs
I complained ____ whole day.
____ parents were making me work on the neighborhood project, but I had far better things to do.
I ____ understand why we were working on this place.
It was just the ugly, old, empty lot ____ from Johnny's Shop.
It was full of wild plants, fast food wraps, ____ newspapers, broken glass, and every other kind of dirty trash you can imagine.
As I looked at it that first morning, I thought, "I bet there are snakes ____ there, too."
There were twenty ____ us—all ages and sizes—ready to work that day.
I didn't think that we could clean up this awful mess and turn it into ____ garden.
We ____ all wondering where to begin.
Then Mr. Hernandez said, "The only way to do it is ____ to start."
Then, he divided the lot into four parts with string and ____ five people to each part.
By lunchtime
By lunchtime, I was hot, ____ and glad my dad had made me wear gloves.
____ filled fifty trash bags with waste and were ready to pull wild plants.
As we pulled and pulled, dust filled ____ air and made us sneeze.
At the end of the day, I ____ to admit the lot looked much better.
____ first day was the toughest.
On the ____ that followed, we made rows, planted flower and vegetable seeds, and watered them.
After ____ two weeks, I stopped complaining when I found the plants had started popping up!
First, the lettuce and then the beans and ____ tomatoes.
They grew so ____ I couldn't believe it!
The bean plants grew an inch, and ____ tomatoes doubled in size in just a few days.
Now, two months later
Now, two months later, I like to go there every day to see ____ new flowers are ready to pop up.
Lots of people in the neighborhood meet there to enjoy the sights and to ____ together.
Tonight, ____ suddenly hit me—what a good thing we did!
I'm ____ I have been a part of it.
I'm in charge of picking flowers for the nursing home ____ Fourth Street.
The vegetables will go to every kitchen in ____ town.
But even better, an ugly and dirty lot ____ people didn't like has become a pretty garden for everyone.