I began digging Staten Island's soil a few years after moving to New York in the Summer of 2000, coming from Berlin, Germany. Starting out as arts administrator, I eventually dropped the keyboard for a pitchfork and took on tasks that seemed better aligned with my liking for manual labor and outdoors activities. At the same time, I stepped into a tradition that runs on both sides of my German family. On the left hand, you see my great-great-grandfather in ca. 1925, who was married to a French and worked the gardens of the Castle of Versailles. His son became a gardener and his son, my father, became an environmental scientist. The photo below shows my grandmother as a child. Her family ran plant nurseries in the City of Berlin. Her daughter, my mother, became a master florist. My great-grandfather was specialized and published books about the cultivation of cyclames. Christoph Mayer