Comment on structure

Each narrator tells a bit of the story of the garden. The stories are in chronological order so that the reader can put together the work done during the first year to create the community garden. Kim unknowingly begins the garden when she plants lima beans. Kim’s story includes the exposition that describes how the garden got its start, but then each narrator’s story also includes exposition about that particular character and his place in the garden or contribution to the project. Ideas that are begun in one narrator’s story are often followed up in another story. For instance, Leona describes how she goes about trying to find a way to get rid of the trash in the vacant lot. Leona does not tell how the trash is removed, it is instead Sam who describes the act of the trash being taken away in his story.