Edible Gardening for Small Spaces

 

“There are two things money can’t buy, true love and homegrown tomatoes.” This is one of my favorite quotes from Jack Bigej, owner of Al’s Garden Center, and my gardening godfather. It is one of the many truths I’ve learned from Jack throughout my steady stream of gardening successes and failures. Oh, but I love to grow. In the last five years my passion for growing has led me into the world of edibles, which is great, because my husband, Reg, loves to cook. 

 

Two years ago, I thought my perfectly balanced home life had come to an end. My husband and I, along with our three cats, moved from a home surrounded by 2-acres of ground just perfect to garden in, to a Suburban neighborhood with a postage stamp sized yard. The first thing I thought was “there goes the fresh garden vegetables.” 

 

My neighbors still joke that when I moved in, I moved in more plants than I did furniture. I’m a big believer that your front yard is for the neighbors, but your backyard is all about you. So, out came the lawn in our backyard, we did not need grass. In went a small pathway with a couple of spaces to entertain, and a few large flowerbeds. I thought that I would be ok without a vegetable garden, until June arrived. It was then that I realized I could not live without SunSugar Tomatoes. If you have never tried a SunSugar Tomato you are missing out – it’s candy on a plant. It’s a blessing that these little bite size tomatoes grow in abundance; otherwise our salads would have never seen one of them. Dozens of the tasty tomatoes will disappear off the vines during a single Sunday morning weed walk.

 

So, Reg and I went to Al’s to pick up one 4” SunSugar Tomato plant. There would be no problem fitting one tomato into my flower bed next to my pink peony. And as long as I was making room in the flower bed, I picked up another favorite, an Heirloom Black Russian Tomato. The Black Russian is a meaty tomato, which makes it great to grill, (with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic, finished with mozzarella. Yum!) 

 

It was at this point that Reg made the point that we can’t have a summer barbeque without cucumbers. True, I agreed. Into our cart went a Lemon Cucumber for me and a Burpless Cucumber for him. We love food, and food you grow yourself not only fills your stomach, but also fills your soul with a sense of accomplishment. 

 

At the check out stand, our cart contained the aforementioned two tomatoes and two cucumbers, along with one Chandler Blueberry bush, three Artichoke plants, one Japanese Long Eggplant, one Cantaloupe, one Watermelon, one 6-pack of Celery starts, 6 Italian Basil plants, 3 Espalier Pear trees, 1 Olive Tree, 1 package of Extra Tall Sunflower seeds, 1 package of Arugula seeds, 1 package of Snow Peas, and 1 package of “Purple” Green Beans. We also picked up one pumpkin plant that at the time, we thought was a standard carving pumpkin. Much to my surprise, we had ourselves a garden. 

 

Throughout the summer our garden grew inching it’s way through and around my summer perennials. The trick to growing an edible garden amongst other plants is that you need to make sure your edibles and non-edibles both thrive on the same conditions. Jack’s Lesson #1: After 4^th of July stop watering your tomatoes. Lora’s Mistake #1: Oops! I knew this. Jack will tell you, tomatoes like a little stress to bear fruit. They need water to become established, but once established prefer their soil a little dry. So my Black Russian Tomato had lots of lush foliage and very little fruit.

 

Jack Lesson #2: Slugs love your young edibles as much as you do. With a smaller garden you won’t want to waste any of your home grown produce on the slugs. Lora’s Mistake #2: I had just moved into a new neighborhood, full of new friends, and unfortunately full of slimy slugs. Everyone who knows me knows my neurosis with slugs, so you’d think I wouldn’t have forgotten the lesson on slugs, but I did.   Most of our neighbors don’t have gardens, so when I planted my fresh, young basils neighborhood slugs must have spread the word that the slug salad bar was open. Luckily basil grows fast, and can be continually replaced. Reg and I plant a few new basil plants every four weeks to keep our pesto addiction fed through fall. [Here's my favorite Yummy Pesto Recipe Made Easy.]

 

Jack’s Lesson #3: Think vertical. There are many vining edibles, like cucumbers, beans and peas that you can grow UP, saving you lots of space on the ground to grow other plants. Lora’s Mistake #3: When you plant cucumbers, it is hard to imagine just how much space they will take at the height of their season. When I planted our cucumbers I also planted several basil plants nearby. Weeks later when taking a head count of my crop of basil plants, I couldn’t find the basil plants that should have been near the cucumbers. I began swearing at the slugs for postponing my pesto pasta once more. My husband very nicely pointed out that there were remnants of basil plants underneath his beloved cucumbers. Jack’s Lesson #3.5: Don’t be afraid to prune your vegetables. Next to growing, I love pruning. The great thing about some plants is that they love to be pruned. If your cucumbers and tomatoes, planted amongst other plants, are strong on foliage, but short in fruit, prune them. Pruning will put the plants energy back into the fruit and not the foliage.

 

At one point, near the beginning of August, I remember looking around my garden and realizing the mixture of blooming perennials and annuals. The lush green vegetables, with their small blossoms mixed in reminded me of the gentle beauty found in an English Cottage garden - it was then that our garden exploded. 

 

We had an explosion of cucumbers, tomatoes and beans. Bags and bags of vegetables were dropped on the doorsteps of any of our neighbors willing to take them.   Our sunflower reached over nine feet tall. One of our neighbors started calling it the “Spy”, since it had a preference for turning it’s large yellow face in the direction of his yard. Our “carving” pumpkin, turned out to be a “jumbo” carving pumpkin. Our neighbors brought their kids over regularly to check out the pumpkins progress. Right before Halloween, we pushed one of the prized pumpkins down the block in a wheel barrow and delivered it to a delighted neighbor. We noticed after each visit by neighbors and friends, our sugar pea vines and SunGold tomato bush would be stripped clean of sun-ripened produce. The kids and their parents had learned what kind of yummy goodness can be found in a fresh garden. 

 

Lora’s Lesson #1: Community, family, health, and happiness, can all be found within 200 square feet.    I’ve informed Jack that the edible garden responsibility is now being shared between me and my neighbors. We’ve all decided which edible plants we enjoy growing, and would want to share, since one plant can often feed an army. My 200 square feet is now around 100 square feet. Growing tips and cooking tips make up much of our summer curb conversation.   I do believe Jack needs to add another line to his quote, “…but love can be bought with a homegrown tomato.”