let's try it again

Recovered from the failure of my first attempt, I decided to try again. This time, I took a multi-faceted approach. I planted both starts (romanesco) and seeds (shelling peas, carrots, leeks, beets) in the ground. I also planted seeds (carrots, beets, leeks, tomatoes) in a mini plastic greenhouse. Greenhouses serve two main purposes: they provide a warmer climate for seeds to germinate (letting the sun through the clear roof while keeping cold air out) and they allow a gardener to find out which seeds are going to germinate before planting (ground space is precious so it's wise to transplant once the seeds have sprouted.)

As an aside, I was informed by my farmer friends that one should not start root vegetables (i.e. carrots or beets) in the greenhouse - oops!, because root vegetables don't like to be transplanted (their root structures don't appreciate the trauma.) Also, when planting seeds, the rule of thumb is to plant the seed only twice as deep as the diameter of the seed itself. Seeds are tiny, so don't plant them too deep! (I probably planted the carrot seeds too deep.)

With the seeds-in-ground-and-greenhouse-plus-starts-approach, I was hedging the risk. I figured that if the seeds in the ground didn't germinate, at least they'd have a shot in the greenhouse. If none of the seeds germinated, the romanesco starts would be my fall back. I closely examined the soil each day, hoping to find even one sprout. I scanned the soil, as if I as looking for a fallen jewel. Was this a carrot sprout or just another weed?


The peas came through for me, popping up out of the soil. It is so satisfying to watch a plant grow from seed:


I built a trellis for the peas, so their spindly arms would have something to grab. Fascinating how their thin green coils manage to wrap so tightly around the metal lattice. I managed to harvest a dozen peas...but the plants did not flourish. The romanesco did grow some, even as it battled some type of microscopic pest that ate holes through its leaves.

Remarkably, none of the seeds in the greenhouse sprouted. NONE. Was it too hot inside? Did I forget to water enough? Did the soil dry out faster than I could replenish the moisture? Did I use the wrong soil? Besides the peas, the seeds in the ground also failed miserably.

Every time I watered, I noticed MILLIONS of small black ants pouring out of the ground, their tunnels flooded. It was amazing to watch them carry little white eggs in their mouths, searching for higher ground. While the ants were numerous (and multiplying quickly), were they harming my garden? Did they interfere with the seeds? I sprinkled red chili powder on them to no avail.

My neighbor mentioned to me that she saw birds landing in the garden and picking at the seeds (I built a scarecrow in response.) If that weren't enough, the plot was getting covered with dead leaves from the bushes above and the local cats were using it as a restroom!


So let's recap. My second attempt at gardening was met with a massive colony of ants, a flock of birds, a gang of neighborhood cats and an incessant shower of dead leaves. While that is quite the list of formidable foes, something tells me that the challenge stemmed from a lack of more basic needs: lots of sun, quality soil and regular water. I finally realized that my plot received very little direct sunlight each day (maybe 1-2 hours in the early morning.) Also, the soil consisted primarily of hard, dry, urban backyard dirt. Maybe I should have put more thought into the location of my garden.

botanical backyard

Berkeley feels like a botanical garden year round. And through no effort of my own, our backyard is abloom with color...in NOVEMBER?!?! How is this possible? Ridiculous, I know.

We even have blackberries pouring through the foliage and a Meyer lemon tree pumping out lemons year round! The lemons look like green limes when they are young, then they turn plump and yellow...and super juicy.

white peach tree

A friend had given me a small potted white peach tree before she left town in August. I watered the fledgling tree on occasion, but I knew that it really belonged in the ground. As the months passed, the tree lost many of its leaves and the ones tat remained were droopy. By the end of October, I felt so sorry for the tree and I began to worry that it would die under my care. I dug a hole in the ground and planted the tree. It was very satisfying. Given how much carbon I use, the least I could do was plant a tree. Keeping my fingers crossed, I hoped the tree would recover.

pedro the rabbit

Alas, my own backyard garden was simply too good to be true. Within days, the neighborhood menace (aka Pedro the Rabbit) had decided to indulge himself at the expense of my garden. He tore through one vegetable per day. He devoured the lettuce and kale first and eventually made his way through the flowers as well. My pathetic green wire fence was no match for his fat hungry self. I'm not sure who his owner is, or where he calls home, but he left me devastated. I tried to chase him away, but he wasn't afraid at all. He just sat there, licking himself, or hanging out in the shade. I couldn't help myself but put a cage around him occasionally as punishment. After a short while, I'd let him go. Darn rabbit!!!


Pedro was considerate enough to leave the onions and tomatoes. I eventually harvested and ate the onions. The tomato plants grew modestly (although much bigger than the fire escape tomato plants) and produced a handful of average tomatoes. My first backyard garden was certainly not as big a success as I had hoped.

berkeley, ca: finally a plot of my own

Graduate school has brought me back to paradise, also known as Berkeley, California. As soon as we saw the huge backyard, we knew we had to rent the apartment in a four-plex house on Vine St. As soon as we moved in, I immediately staked claim to a 4x8 patch of grass up against the bushes. I figured this patch would be out of the way and it seemed like someone had gardened there at one point in the past. I was so excited, finally a patch of land to grow food! I turned over the soil with a shovel and added some bagged organic potting soil with fertilizer from the local horticulture shop (only 3 blocks away!).

I immediately set about planting a variety of starts: onions, leeks, kale, lettuce, strawberries, beets, tomatoes, lavender and some flowers for decoration. I was so proud of my new garden.

carroll gardens, brooklyn

Eager to escape the noise and crowds of "The City," we landed in Carroll Gardens, a peaceful neighborhood in Brooklyn on the F line. We found an apartment on the second floor of a brownstone on Carroll Street. While we didn't have access to the backyard, we did have a fire escape. That meant I could have another potted herb garden. I could see the backyard from the window, and this helped me feel that much closer to having my own backyard. Here are some of the herbs I that grew.

We were fortunate to be able to take frequent trips to northwestern Connecticut. On the edge of the house where we stayed, I found a cluster of chives. I picked a few chive plants and carried them back with me to New York. I was surprised to see a small purple bud, shaped like the tip of a wet paintbrush. Eventually, the bud bloomed into a beautiful purple flower. The flower is edible (it has a faint chive taste) as are all flowers that grow on plants with edible leaves. This chive plant survived the winter and blossomed again the following spring.

first vegetable, first flower (from seed!)

In my second year in the East Village, I expanded my
fire escape garden. This time I grew cherry tomatoes and beets in addition to my herb staples. The cherry tomatoes and their burst of juicy tartness were particularly delightful. Growing my own food feels so good. Beets didn't do so well, I think the container was way too small. Plant growth is proportional to root growth, and small pots limit root growth.

I also planted a sunflower seed. Miraculously, the seed turned into a sunflower! Seeds are wondrous things. A plant devotes so much energy to growing fruit and vegetables just to convince an animal to spread the plant's seed. And the flower? A brilliant creation to attract bees and insects to help the plant pollinate...again, to create a fruit to spread its seed. The sunflowers grew surprisingly tall, given the small pots I put them in.

Here's the view of my bedroom windowsill. I bought an old wooden box to store my gardening supplies. Years later, it still houses my garden supplies.