The Adventures of Urban Farmers

On an evening walk through my neighbourhood last summer, I came across a church with wooden boxes in its yard, each box full of growing vegetables. What can this be? An urban garden?! I turned to Google and discovered the possibility of gardening- despite living in an apartment building and owning no land- through the existence of community gardens strewn throughout the city. I became determined to grow my own food.

Earlier this year, I rented a garden plot with Willowdale United Church. For $20, I received use of a 3′ x 8′ box plot to plant whatever my heart desired. The church, located five minutes home, allows us to visit it frequently to tend to our plants. The church also hosts monthly meetings, creating a community of urban farmers which we’ve been privileged to be part. I have met many children who live in the area; they are always eager to water my veggies. The adults are helpful as well, always offering advice and tips to me, the novice gardener. One afternoon, a Korean grandmother helped me thin out my carrots, which I had been reluctant to do (beginner’s mistake); she didn’t speak a work of English but we managed and beamed proudly at each other when the carrots were thinned.

I went into gardening blindly- meaning I’ve never grown anything in my life. I couldn’t have told you if zucchinis came from bushes or trees. I did attempt to grow herbs long, long ago; planted basil seeds in cute terracotta jars, watered them a few times before forgetting about their existence out on my balcony. Suffice it to say, my herbs didn’t grow. As determined as I was to grow food, I had no idea where to start. I barely understood the instructions on the back of the seed packet:

Carrots (Daucus carota) – Planting: Sow seeds outdoors 3-4 weeks before last spring frost or as soon as soil can be worked. Plant seeds ½” apart and ¼” deep in rows 16-24″ apart. Tamp soil firmly; keep bed moist until emergence. Germination is slow and uneven, so be patient.

I planted my carrots one random day in June- who knows how many days after the last spring frost that was (especially with the winter we had!). I scattered the seeds much closer than ½” apart; it was hard to get just one of those tiny seeds out of the packet. I kept on confusing “seeds apart” with “rows apart”, grew fed up, stuck more seeds in the soil, patted it down, and hoped for the best. I repeated a similar procedure for the peppers, marigolds, basil, thyme, and zucchinis.

I went to the garden almost every day to check if anything was growing. A couple weeks later, green seedlings started to protrude from the soil. Huzzah! But then, I remembered we were leaving for a two-week vacation to Brazil. Who would tend my garden and water, feed, protect the young life I had started? I left clear instructions with brother, who intended on staying at our apartment, to water my garden, but I was convinced the little seedlings were to shrivel and die.

I returned to the garden two weeks later with my seed packets in my pocket; I was expecting to re-sow seeds. Much to my surprise, my seedlings were now full grown plants! A neat row of carrots grew on one side of the plot; on the other, three humongous zucchini bushes! It was a miracle; my garden was producing food despite my ignorance and neglect.

Soon the zucchini bushes (four of them, not planted on hills and spaced 6″ apart, as instructed by the seed packet) was producing flowers and fruit. I felt like a proud parent and would visit my zucchinis daily to inspect it for bugs and mildew. By the end of July, I was taking home a zucchini or two and a handful of blossoms for dinner on a daily basis. Needless to say, we ate lots of zukes over the summer.

Our carrots grew successfully as well. The kid, who gardened with me, loved pulling out the carrots and eating them on the spot. Fresh carrots from the garden are so tasty; they are full of flavour and have a lovely crunch. It was only yesterday I harvested the remaining carrots; time for stew, cake, and soup.

The basil also grew abundantly. I even grew seedlings from cuttings (see, I’m learning the gardening jargon) and grew transplanted them into tea tin jars on my balcony. I now also have thriving basil plants growing at home. Time for pesto.

There have been many gardening mishaps and failures as well. Upon returning from Brazil, we found a plant in a place I was certain I didn’t plant any seeds.

“That has to be a weed”, I told Daniel.
“Are you sure?” he asked “Couldn’t it be the pepper plant?”

We googled pepper plants and my unidentified plant didn’t look like any of the images on the Internet. We pulled it out. A week later, similar looking plants popped out in neat little rows where I had indeed planted peppers. That unidentified-plant-pulled-from-garden was in fact a pepper plant.

The zucchini shrubs stopped bearing fruit in mid-August. I blame it on the torrential rains we received earlier in the month. Because I hadn’t planted in hills, high winds knocked out one of them. Because I had planted them too closely together and didn’t prune plant leaves effectively, a overly humid environment was created and mildew began to form on the leaves. Last week, I harvested the last remaining zucchini: an overgrown one which will now be turned into zucchini bread. (It is by gardening that I learned the tastiest zucchinis are usually 6 to 8 inches long. The giant ones are hard and woody. No wonder the massive bigger-than-a-newborn zucchini I purchased at the farmer’s market last year was only 50 cents… And I thought I was receiving a good deal at the time).

My marigolds took over the plot. I planted them because they are keep bugs away from the vegetables (says the books). My dad plants marigolds in his flower garden. The small cute flowers line his driveway, greeting us cheerily each time we visit. My marigolds are anything but small. Or cute. Or cheery. They loom over three feet tall an an intimidating, almost bully-ish way. They hog space and sunlight, casting shadows over the other plants like ominous giants. It turns out I bought the “jumbo” variety.

My garden is dying (except for the marigolds), but I have had a fruitful summer. The gardening experience has taught my family valuable skills. The kiddo is learning where food comes from (a much more effective lesson in cause-and-effect than a plastic toy). Daniel knows not to listen to me when I insist a plant is a weed. I learned to slow down; I learned to wait for seeds to germinate, for seedlings to turn to plants, and for vegetables to ripen before picking. I am eager to learn from my lessons- successes and mistakes- to grow a even plentiful bounty next year.

Did our garden save us money? I’ll let you know in another post!