The Gen. X/Y Urban Garden Part 2

It's been just over a month since I planted the vegetable and herb garden out on my patio/glorified fire escape and I thought I'd fill everyone on the successes and challenges of the garden. Here's the overview:

Best performers thus far: sweet basil, green onions and tomatoes.

Doing so-so: radish and peppers.

What happened?!: cilantro.

Some challenges:

1. Heat. On one side its been great to have the sun shining on a daily basis, but after working in a greenhouse all day, there were definitely a few days I came home and realized that I had completely forgotten to water the plants! Just look at the radishes in the photo that have curled up and died, burnt to a crisp. One thing to keep in mind is to water early in the morning. Think of water as the "breakfast of champions" for plants. Having moisture available first thing in the morning helps jump-start photosynthesis after the evening hiatus. Watering in the middle of the day can also burn the leaves if water droplets are left on the leaves.

2. Poor germination. The cilantro we purchased didn't germinate, even after the two week period that is normally required for the herb. I sowed some new seed just last week, so we'll see how that turns out. Proof that over seeding is never a bad thing in container gardening, and that reading up on your varieties beforehand can be helpful.

3. Pesto is hard to make by hand. Don't try to make pesto with a hand chopper that you have to power by hand. My OXO chopper is now dull from all the pounding and chopping I did to make 1/4 cup of pesto last week. I immediately that night went to Bed Bath & Beyond that night and purchased the food processor I had on our wedding registry. This kitchen essential can't wait til October.

How are other gardens going? A customer of ours has developed with us an "herban garden" urn to sell this summer at their store, with provides 5 different culinary varieties of basil in an 8" rice hull urn. Hanna, my friend in Nashville who has become pretty successful at tending her heriloom begonia and growing herbs from her kitchen, planted some peppers and tomatoes pretty late in the season (end of May/beginning of June) as a trial to see if the plants will still bear fruit in time for summer. I've spoken with some gardeners who have been testing the Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower - I still don't think it works, but if it get's people to start gardening I suppose it's a start. Have successes or challenges of your own? Let me know!

Plant on and rock on,

Stephanie

Song for the Garden: No One Does It Like You - Department of Eagles

The Gen. X/Y Urban Garden

What is it about growing your own garden that is so enjoyable? Is it being able to see the end result of your hard work? Is it the contrast between a garden's beauty and the harst environment of city life? Is it the genes of my NH farm-raised grandmoster that's showing and making me itchy to get my hands dirty? I think it's a mixture of all the above.

This year marks the first summer I have a space to my own where I can plant a garden. University housing wasn't ever too keen on me installing a window box outside my 4th story apartment in a brand new building. For better or worse, I now live in a city apartment where the only green space to my name is a 3 sq ft patch of compacted dirt below a city-planted maple tree. So I decided with my limited space to try one of the few options city dwellers have - container gardening.

My fiance and I are fortunate enough to have a nicely sized fire escape that has become a "backyard". There were many sources of inspiration: Marty, one of our building mates, who has created his own garden out his bedroom window, the Philadelphians I work with every day who are constatnly looking for new ways to get plants into the hands of their neighbors, and the success of the vegetable garden my parents grew last year. So last week I stopped by a local garden center to pick up some essentials: a sizeable container to get the peppers and tomatoes started, smaller bins for the herbs, seeds, plant tags (I went for the au-naturale look of wooden stakes), organic soil, and an empty tonic bottle I used as a watering can.

I decided to grow green onions, green peppers, non-heirloom tomatoes, radishes (essential for tuna sandwiches!), cilantro, and sweet basil. I also have a Kentucky Wonder bean plant and spearmint (essential for mojitos). I kept away from the heirloom tomato route as the varieties can be finicky to work with, and I didn't want to go overboard in the first year here.
Throughout the planting I had an absolute blast! I felt like a kid again, as if I was working on a Girl Scout merit badge or something for the Skaneateles Junior Garden Club. Wat was even more gratifying was that within three days the radishes started to sprout. Got to love instant gratification!


Here are some helpful tips I've picked up along the way:
1. Make sure you purchase enough soil. I bought one small bag thinking I'd be ste, but there's a good 4" of space between the edge of the pot and the soil line.
2. Purchase containers with holes in the bottom, or drill your own! The tin bins are cute but don't drain well.
3. Read the directions on the seed packets. There is helpful info about how deep to plant the seeds, and the spacing requirements after the plants are established.
4. Over seeding is great. It eliminates any worry you might have about the success of your efforts.
5. Check out your garden daily. Make sure it's got enough water, admire your work, and talk to your plants. Research (and Myth Busters my fiance notes) has suggested that human speech has a positive effect on the health of a plant. Plus you'll get some nice oxygen in return.

I'll keep everyone posted throughout the summer with the progress of the Gen. X/Y Urban Garden.

Plant on and rock on,
Stephanie

Song for the Garden: Miss Broadway - Glass Candy