Tomorrow is Earth Day, a celebration held since 1970 to remind us that we all share a single planet, one with finite resources and an ecosystem that is intertwined to levels we don't always understand. In that frame of mind, I highly recommend reading a story from yesterday's New York Times by Michael Pollan, a noted writer on food and the food cycle.The piece is called "Why Bother?" and that question is applied to efforts by individuals to shrink their so-called "carbon footprints" -- the amount of energy a person uses. The article ends up discussing something that I am planning to do this year: grow some of my own food.
Last year was my first venture in that direction, with a few plum tomato plants on my mom's porch. (She gets more sunlight than I get on my porch.) This year I am going to try to plant a bunch of things in my aunt's yard. I saved up some pumpkin and squash seeds over the winter -- I like to make pies and this year I made most of them from scratch -- and I hope to get some other seeds and to buy some tomato plants.
Now, I am not much of a green thumb and the soil in may aunt's yard looks as though it might present some problems, but I aim to give it a shot. I still need to read a little bit more on gardening, but we'll see what happens. I have low expectations, and if anything grows at all I will deem that a success.
3 comments:
i decided to do the same, spent hours clearing room outside to plant my own garden and can't wait to start!! i swear that homegrown stuff tastes better ;)
Great idea!! I'm not much of a green-thumb myself and being a third-floor porch kind of gal for the past 14 - 15 years or so, I have had some moderate success with container gardens.
I usually start with seedlings from Home Depot of all places. My typical staples are tomoatoes, green beans and herbs, along with some flowering and foliage plants for aesthetics. Although past years have seen us try our hands at everything from tropical flowers to blueberries.
Not only does this minimal investment of cash and time create quite the urban oasis and alternate food source, but it has also been for me - a catalyst for quality family time and creativity.
Eastie Girl, you should trying to plant outside if you can because plants are more apt to respond to outside soil.
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