Charlie and the beet

Charlie and the beet..

I’m from the windy city (the real city, not the surrounding suburbs where many are really from).  Born and bred. There were plenty of trees and flowers in my neighborhood along with the concrete sidewalks, but no one grew their own food…on purpose.  The cherry tree in Mrs. Anthony’s yard and the concord grape vine in mine were vestiges of the past gardening before we arrived.  The joy of climbing the cherry tree with my friends and eating to our heart’s content or grabbing a bunch of grapes from my backyard tree are pleasant memories I cherish. My parents grew ornamental flowers and shrubs, but it never occurred to me we could grow our own food. 

I have great grocery stores near me, and they carry what I want and need and then some.  It wasn’t until I began teaching a course in food systems that I began to understand the importance of growing and harvesting food for myself.  I’ve written about this before, but in case you are not aware, planet earth is in big trouble.  We’ve just about destroyed our top soil where food grows (in the US alone, we lose 6.9 billion tons every year), overfished the oceans (80% of global fish stocks have been fished to the limit), polluted our waterways (algal blooms are the result of chemical runoff from pesticides and animal waste), and I could go on and on.  I can no longer sit by and let this apocalypse unfold before my eyes without doing something.  Idleness leads to anxiety.  Gardening is action oriented and actually reduces anxiety. You can read about the benefits of gardening here. 

I took a stab at it this past summer – later in the season than is recommended – but I was determined.  My colleague is an agronomist so I asked him how to begin.  He told me to get 3-parts topsoil to 1-part compost, mix it well, ensure my garden was getting enough sun, and that was it.  The former owner of my house already had a couple of raised beds, so I repurposed those.  I found the sunniest spot I could – not easy to do in the DMV area with all the tall beautiful trees.  It was a bit late to start from seeds, so I just purchased seedings from my local gardening store though most of the good plants were sold out.  I didn’t have a plan of what I wanted to grow, research the best growing conditions, or when I should harvest the food.  I figured I’ll give it water and sunlight and let the plants do what they do!  I had very little expectations.

Meanwhile, I shared my efforts with two of my most brilliant friends. They bragged a little to me about their gardens – how they planned them early, carefully selected the soil and seeds, used correct spacing, measured the sunlight and estimated water needs for each one.  As a beginner, I was just eager to get tips from them.  One evening, I walked to my little raised bed and behold, there was one very large cucumber laying on the ground.  At first, I really did think someone was paying a joke on me until I noticed it was connected to its vine.  I snapped pictures of it like it was my child’s first steps.  It’s like it grew their overnight.  After that, my garden started to take off, and I was harvesting vegetables the rest of the summer into fall.  Not everything grew.  My agronomist informed me that spinach I planted was not a summer crop – oops.  Yes, I had a few nibbles on my zucchini (squirrel, mouse, ?) and the pests ate through my broccoli leaves.  I was not deterred.

What was so delightful was standing in my kitchen thinking about what I was going to prepare for dinner and then remembering I had food right outside my door.  It really was thrilling to go outside with Charlie, my adorable little Pompoo, to see what was available. Often, it dictated what I prepared.  Everything tasted so fresh, and there was pride in knowing I planted, harvested, and prepared it as part of a meal for my family.  There was virtually no food waste, a major green house gas problem, because I harvested just the amount I estimated I needed. As winter set in, I let the remaining plants succumb to frost and practiced no till gardening, a major tenet of conservation agriculture.  Just before the winter holidays and cold enough to wear a coat, I noticed my broccoli, which didn’t do well over the summer, was in full bloom. I had another delicious surprise dinner companion!  My garden just kept on giving.

This summer, I’m more prepared.  I ordered my seeds early from 7 Row Seed Company, am waiting the standard 6 weeks until the last frost (what frost?), have been stockpiling soil for sale over the winter, mapping out seed spacing, and plotting the best time to harvest.  Inquiring with my friends about their summer garden success, both told me theirs was a bust.  What?!  One said they think they didn’t have enough soil depth, so the roots didn’t take hold.  The other said it was too hot, and the plants burned up.  They basically had nothing to show for their efforts.  Even I was disappointed for them.  My agronomist and I are working together to help other wayward city dwellers (and brilliant friends) learn how to grow food in a small space.  Stay tuned!