Playing in Dirt: Adventures in an Urban Garden: Chapter 1

Get ready for gardening!!

A few weekends ago, we decided Spring had finally sprung in Chicago.  Its Chicago, so of course it snowed on the following Monday but that is neither here nor there.

Some time last summer, we decided that we were gardening this year.  We are staying faithful to our trusty CSA, Radical Root Farm, but decided to do a bit of gardening on our own mostly for the purposes of canning.  Last year we canned some chopped tomatoes and I made Home Grown Hot Sauce, but this year I have dreams of tomato sauce and paste, pickles, and peppers.

Our original intention was to buy seeds.  My husband and I were going to be in charge of the seed nursery and then we were going to pass off the plants to friends who have actual outdoor space.  But when we went to this amazing garden store, Adams and Son Gardens, we were shocked to find a bunch of baby plants calling our names.  We bought a bunch of herbs, vegetables, and flowers.

We may or may have not purchased over 100  plants.

Yes, it was excessive but in a few months it will be totally worth it.

After we bought a million plants, we went to a hardware store to buy some supplies to make the garden happen.  We have only a parkway to call our yard and our friends have only an awesome deck so we got tons of 5-gallon buckets and soil.

It is still crazy to me but we ended up filling 18 buckets.

Then we got to planting.  We did three vegetables and a marigold in each bucket.  The marigold is a plant that is supposed to benefit the plants around it.  Below is what we have growing.

Tomatoes: Cherry, Roma, and Early Girls

Hot Peppers

Bell Peppers

Cucumbers and Beans: (cucumbers did not survive the mid-spring snow we had, so we need to get more since I love pickles)

We are also growing many herbs in our windows.  This includes parsley, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, dill, thyme, chives, sweet basil, Thai basil, and boxwood basil.  Yes, that is three kinds of basil, we love pesto.

Of course if I love cooking barefoot, I would also love playing in the dirt.  I consider this the prelude to the farm I would like to someday own.  Until then my green thumbs will be focusing on these 18 buckets.  I am so excited to share the process with you over the next few months.  I am also excited about all the goods we will end up putting away to get us over the long Chicago winter like this tasty Green Tomato Relish we got as a gift from our family in Madison.

Now you might be thinking, “oh an urban garden, that is so hip and trendy” but actually it is historical and old-fashioned.  During WWI and WWII the Victory Garden was all the rage.  It is actually pretty cool that at the end of WWII people in the USA were growing 40% of vegetables in their own back yard.  Also, I was probably wonderfully brained washed as a child by PBS from watching the show, Victory Garden.

Regardless, growing things makes me happy and I glad to be partaking in the long American and human tradition of growing your own food.

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