signs of life

My little herbs are sprouting.  

I got my seeds going a bit later than I'd expected to, but the first little cotyledons have pushed their way up through the potting mix and are stretching further upward every day. They're a welcome addition to the jungle of succulents already standing guard on my windowsill.  Italian parsley, chives and cilantro make up this first wave of herbage, while thyme, oregano, rosemary and basil wait on deck for a place in the line-up (channeling baseball metaphors this evening... ).  Some of these little sluggers will eventually take up residence out on the balcony; once the temperature cooperates and the sun says it's summertime again.

Winter Windowsill Herb Garden: Part I

Several weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to receive an email from a small, family-run seed company asking if I'd be interested in trying out some culinary herb seeds in exchange for linking to the company on my blog.  How exciting!  Free stuff!  I'm a sucker for everything that's complimentary.  But would I put just any product on my blog?  Absolutely not.  So I did what school has taught me to do; I researched.  Fortunately, I liked what I found!

The company in question is Hometown Seed Company out of Orem, Utah.  According to their website, the company sells vegetable, flower, and herb seeds, focusing on small quantity, home gardeners.  They strive to sell quality seeds at reasonable prices and guarantee that their products will live up to that standard of quality and performance, or they'll replace them free of charge.  So far, so good.

Harvest Dinner

Gardening is fun.  Planting seeds, getting dirty, watching seedlings grow and flourish - all incredibly enjoyable activities.  Let's face it though, the real reason we do all of those things is so we can eat.

I happen to be a huge fan of eating.  Not just because it's necessary for my survival as a living organism, but because I love tasting.  I love to discover different textures and flavors in my mouth.  I love the feeling of satisfaction that comes after finishing the last bite of a perfect meal.  There's nothing like pushing aside an empty plate, leaning back in the chair, and releasing a sigh of such contentment that it would seem all of the imperfections in the world have ceased to exist. 

When some or all of the food in those sigh-inducing dishes come from my own garden, the pleasure suddenly skyrockets to an entirely new level.  At least, for me it does.

These are some of the veggies that I harvested from our garden this weekend.  This is our second year growing carrots, but the kohlrabi and potatoes are new additions this year.  I'm so glad we grew All Blue potatoes!  They are purple to the core, adding a festive color contrast to the meals they adorn.  The kohlrabi was grown with my boyfriend in mind.  He makes an awesome dish with roasted kohlrabi in a garlic butter sauce.  He made it last night, in fact.  Here's a picture.

There's Parmesan and fresh basil in this version of the kohlrabi dish.  It was excellent.  We also ate baked salmon from our favorite fish mongers at Loki Fish Company and a green salad with our carrots and lettuce from our favorite summer greens vendor, Let Us Farm (who, unfortunately, don't have much of a presence on the web).

This weekend, I'll get to pull more carrots up out of the dirt, along with more potatoes, onions, shallots and lettuce.  Seventy square feet definitely doesn't keep us fed, but we have so much fun and never cease to be amazed at the food we can produce ourselves.  If you don't already cultivate some soil with veggies, fruits or other produce, you are totally missing out.  What are you waiting for!  Grow food!

The Garden

It's June already, and I realized that I have yet to say a word about this year's garden. The seeds that I planted way back when in February and March have been sprouting for awhile now and are finally making my plot seem like more than a big empty soil patch. It's very exciting.

Let's see, the crops nearing their way to my belly include several types of lettuce, snap peas, broccoli, collard greens (my favorite!), shallots, beets, cabbage, kohlrabi, onions, carrots and two types of potatoes. Whew! I cannot wait to start harvesting. Nothing quite compares to the satisfaction that ensues upon savoring vegetables which made their way to you via a teeny little seed that you stuck in the ground, watched sprout and then plucked from the Earth to be your dinner. It boggles my mind that this feat of nature is possible, and it makes me smile smile smile to be taking advantage of it.

Yesterday, the sun finally came out after what seemed like an eternity of Seattle rain and gloom. I know I signed up for the weather here when I made the Puget Sound region my home, but it has truly been ridiculous. "Maytober", people have been calling this past month. Anyway, the sun was more than welcome for the few hours it showed its face. The minute I saw the clouds part, I hopped on my bike and rode down to the P-patch to check on my seedlings. Here's a little show for you. Enjoy.

The peas are flowering

My first potato crop - these things grow like crazy

Broccoli!

Cabbage heads are starting to form

Carrot tops all in a row

Mmm, lettuce

Salad mix

Walla Walla sweet & some type of red onions (I'm terrible about

remembering what I've planted)

Down at the Patch

Since the early 1970's, Seattle has been home to an ever-expanding program of community gardens called P-Patches. In nearly every neighborhood in the Emerald City, there is land intended specifically for use by the public for growing food. Some of the gardens are out in plain site and are landmarks for city residents. Others, though, are more covert, their plots tucked away from the noise of the street. Several P-Patches I would have been completely unaware of had I not been on foot, taking short cuts through quiet residential neighborhoods.


Last fall when I left behind my backyard container garden to move into a second floor apartment, I decided that I would find out about getting myself a bit of earth to grow food in. I had walked past the P-Patch a mere eight blocks from my new home about a million times and wanted to have my vegetables sprouting there as soon as I could plant them. A quick internet search found the city's web page for the P-Patch Community Gardens. One on-line request form later, and I was officially on the waiting list for the University Heights garden! My excitement was instant, and my mind was off on a race to plan what I would sow in my rented soil when my number came up. You can imagine my dismay when I received the confirmation email for my wait list registration which stated very plainly that the wait could possibly stretch to an absurd length of two years. Are you kidding? I couldn't even plan on living in the vicinity in two years. My excitement turned to disheartenment, and my seed catalogs and gardening books were put away to gather dust.


Several months passed, when one day late in March I checked my email and, Viola! There it was! A message with the improbable title, "University Heights P-Patch Opening Interested ????". What perfect timing to begin growing vegetables! I couldn't believe that they had space so soon. What about that supposed two year delay? It didn't matter. I would have a garden after all!


I was assigned a 100 square foot plot (which turned out to be about 70 sq. ft. - oh well) and given the low-down on the P-Patch rules, regulations and etiquette. It was kind of like moving in with roommates. Clean up after yourself, don't eat other people's food without permission... luckily there are no dishes involved. Each plot does have a yearly fee (mine is $34) which includes administrative costs and whatnot, but for anyone who doesn't have the funds to cover this cost, it will be waived; everyone is welcome at the P-Patch, regardless of economic status. Each gardener also accepts the responsibility of completing eight hours of volunteer work outside of their own plot. Tasks such as weeding walkways, attending work parties to do group projects, and even photographing and writing about The Patch count toward the total (I should log this!).

With the help of a few generous friends, I built a slightly raised bed, weeded and added soil and compost. I was all set and ready to grow.


For my first year, I feel like I've had much success. The crops that I've harvested include peas, onions, carrots, several types of lettuce, mustard greens, chard and green beans. Broccoli, hot peppers, tomatillos, cucumbers and snap beans are on the way. It's been an adventure experimenting with different seeds and types of plants that I have previously never encountered, but the flavor is truly the best part of picking, say... crisp leaf lettuce and sugary snap peas for a salad just an hour before I eat it.



Meeting my fellow P-Patchers as well as watching their gardens change and flourish with the seasons has been a huge benefit for a novice gardener such as myself. I consider myself extremely lucky to have received my plot, especially since learning that the wannabe gardeners waiting in line are now numbering well over one thousand.

Anyone with a yard has the advantage of creating a miniature farm of their own design. For those of us inhabiting vertical developments in urban spaces, community gardens are definitely a boon. For more information about the P-Patch program, including volunteer opportunities and a pretty detailed history of how it all began, check out their website. If the place you call home is in some other part of the U.S., check out the American Community Gardening Association to find out if there is a program near you. Happy harvesting!

Herbal Oasis

As winter packed its bags this year to make way for spring, my partner and I began to ponder the possibilities for a home garden. Apartment living doesn't always offer many options for growing vegetables, but we are lucky enough to have a little west-facing balcony that already houses our potted sage and rosemary. The two were able to make it through the cold season in Seattle and began to thrive again once the temperature allowed.

Since I was lucky enough to have my number called back in April for a plot in the community garden down the street, we decided that our vegetables would be grown there where the sunlight would be more plentiful. As far as we were concerned, it made more sense to have easy access to fresh herbs right outside of our door. I was immediately wrapped up in fantasies of the delectable meals I would prepare all summer long with the aid of our aromatic array. The luscious leaves of these culinary plants were on their way into my world; and my cooking. Very exciting.



Daydreaming aside, it was time to get to work. After getting the go ahead from our apartment manager, we bought four wrought iron baskets to hang over the railings of our tiny terrace. Instead of piling soil and nestling plants directly into the planters, we decided to purchase small pots to house our herbs. This way we could move them about and avoid any chemicals that may have been used to treat the husk-like lining of the planters (there was no info provided as to the nature of that stuff).



Now, the fun part. What would we grow? We're blessed with a year-round, weekly farmer's market just a few blocks down the street where some of the vendors feature herb and veggie starts in the spring. It wasn't hard to make choices once those happy little saplings (Bob Ross moment) came into our line of sight. Over the course of a couple of weeks, we collected a good variety of herbs: savory, oregano, chives, marjoram, Italian parsley, cilantro, and basil. We armed ourselves with pots and soil and introduced our herbs to their new homes. Time to let nature do its thing and allow time for these guys to photosynthesize their way skyward.



Since we first got started, we have brought more plants into the mix. Something called Cuphea, with small leaves and bright orange flowers that are supposed to be a treat for hummingbirds; two miniature roses left over from a friend's wedding, their foliage still green but their pink petals finally turning brown and brittle at the edges; and two scarlet emperor runner beans started from seed, weaving their viney arms throughout the bars of the balcony, soon to bear the red flowers that give them their name. Gazing through the glass door at our garden has been such a pleasure, even on the cold, gloomy days that occasionally take over the Seattle summer. The real pleasure, of course, has been the fresh, pungent flavor brought to my dinner table, courtesy of the herb garden.