carrots, and potatoes. Zucchinis will also fare well in larger pots or on plots of land.
ODD AS I AM SURE IT WILL APPEAR TO SOME, I CAN THINK OF NO BETTER FORM OF PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE CURE OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAN THAT OF GARDENING. A PERSON WHO IS GROWING A GARDEN IS IMPROVING A PIECE OF THE WORLD. HE IS PRODUCING S O M E T H I N G T O E AT, W H I C H M A K E S HIM SOMEWHAT INDEPENDENT OF THE GROCERY BUSINESS, BUT HE IS A L S O E N L A R G I N G , F O R H I M S E L F, T H E MEANING OF FOOD AND THE PLEASURE OF EATING.
For smaller gardens around the kitchen sink or on the balcony, focus on smaller vegetables like lettuces; perennial herbs, like mint, oregano, thyme, and chives; or container tomatoes and strawberries. Edible flowers also make delightful additions to kitchen, patio, and backyard gardens, and they are often easy to grow. Try pansies, nasturtium, or calendula ‒ added to a salad, they make a colourful and flavourful punch. Marigolds, Kyle adds, although inedible, are an excellent flower to plant next to your garden, since they act as a natural deterrent to pests, especially with softer vegetables. Once the weather shifts to autumn, and the frosts return, most plants will fall, and while some, such as herbs, may last a little longer after being brought in, revel in your harvest and replant again come next year. There is no special formula to growing your own produce, and Kyle insists that trial and error are key to planting and maintaining your own kitchen garden. If you lose one plant, he recommends buying a more mature plant and trying again. Growing any plant is an experiment. “See what works for you, and don’t give up,” he says. Keep to tender vegetables, appropriately sized for your growing area. Delight in the moments of time you take to water and care for each seed and shoot, and reap the rewards in salads, soups, meals, and drinks embellished with your homegrown vegetables shared around the table with family and friends.
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ART OF THE COMMONPLACE: THE
A G R A R I A N E S S AY S O F W E N D E L L B E R RY
FO L LO W KYLE @PLANT S HO P Y YC
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