Urban Gardening I

I am not a chef.

I am, however, married to a foodie and surrounded by people who love food.

Growing up on a farm, I was always aware of where my food came from; from the fields and from the animals. We had large vegetable gardens, and fields of wheat and corn, and cows that you didn’t name because someday they would be food.

Living in the city puts certain limits on what we can grow or raise for ourselves. This is part one of what I plan will be a series of posts on Urban Gardening. Taking your tiny slice of earth (or your deck, or your balcony) and using it to grow things.

We have a fairly large back yard by city standards. It has a narrow slice of land beside the garage, which would be totally useless except that it is the perfect spot for a vegetable garden. Vegetables need the sun to grow – and lots of it. This is absolutely essential. If you have access to a South facing plot of land that is where you should break ground. The ideal spot would never be shaded at all during midday, but if you have to choose, I would say that the West would be preferable for afternoon sun.

This weekend is THE date for planting in the garden. May 2-4. Drink beer – plant plants. Check. This year I did a combination of starting from seed and buying plants from the garden centre. Starting from seeds requires some serious commitment and needs to have been started about 2-3 months  ago. There is so much information available on growing specific vegetables that I can only really make suggestions and give my own tips and tricks for those that I am growing this year. If you’re looking to start now I suggest starting with the basics listed below and/or follow this simple rule: Know what you like to eat and grow those things.

Tomatoes – Need lots of love and attention but are definitely worth it. There is nothing better than a vine-ripened tomato that is still warm from the sun. Nothing.

Lettuce – An exception to the seed rule. Can be started now in the garden. Sprinkle the seeds – keep it well watered. Serious bang for the buck.

Cucumber – Also fairly easy – takes up a fair bit of space though. Can be grown up a trellis like a vine to keep them off the ground and save space.

Herbs – Also very satisfying and fairly easy depending on what you choose. Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Mint are always good choices.

Peas – Seeds need to be planted early as they need cool weather to germinate. It’s too late for that now, but I bought some plants that were already started and stuck them in the ground.

(I would also love to learn to grow fruit, but I’m not quite there yet. Something to experiment with in the future)

The main thing to keep in mind is that is it not difficult to grow your own veggies, but it takes time and commitment. You absolutely have to keep on top of the weeds, and make sure the plants are watered every day (unless it rains). Harvesting when ready is crucial as well. When planting items like tomatoes and herbs, you may want to keep some in pots and some in the garden. That gives you the flexibility of moving them around to the prime sunny spots and also a fallback in case the raccoons discover your garden.

My hope is that this series of posts will inspire you to grow something this seaso. Next up: posts on planting and growing specific veggies – starting with the awesome tomato and its best friend basil.

Happy long weekend!