Making the Chef

My Secret Garden

Okay, so it's not so secret. And it's not your Nancy Friday variety. I've got a little garden growing in my apartment building. It's on one of the landings for the fire escape. The inspector has never said anything about it when he's come through, so I think I'm in the clear. In the meantime, I'm learning about how much of a green thumb I really have.

The answer? Not much.

I think the secret to windowbox gardening is twofold: first, make sure you've got hearty varieties of plants ... windowboxes dry out easily and so stress out your plants. You've got to be diligent about watering them, make sure the aphids don't get into them, etc. Second, you need to make sure you buy plants that work well in windowbox situations. Herbs? Great! Cherry tomatoes? Great! Beefsteak tomatoes? Not so good.

There's a certain care that you take with things that you grow on your own, and it's true. Since the first cherry tomato became ripe just a few weeks ago, I've been savoring each one that has come off the vine. Sweet, tart, delish. And finally today there were enough tomatoes on the vine to make a little meal for myself. Quartered cherry tomatoes with some purple basil chiffonade, olive oil and some salt and pepper.

It's unlike anything you'll get in a store. So lusciously sweet, perfectly ripe, and, well, yummy. Yeah, I hate sounding like a foodie, but there's a certain satisfaction in eating something you've grown that just doesn't come out any other way ... do this enough and I'll want to start a farm.

In the meantime, these small windowboxes will be used again next year ... I've already got plans on buying some grow lights so I can give them a head start for the next year.

posted by LindyChef @ 8:31 PM