I Build This Garden For Us

"We'll farm the land each day, and in the sunshine we will play" -Lenny Kravitz

In 2010, after years of spending top dollar at the local farmers markets and co-ops, we decided to explore our own green thumbs. We built our first garden in the front yard of our Central District, Seattle rental. We bought vintage books on companion gardening and applied the knowledge we gained from that reading. My husband built three large beds that we filled with a variety of lettuces, tomatoes, strawberries, cruciferous things, cucumbers, squash and more. The first year we were pulling regular salads and vine ripe tomatoes from the garden. Of course it came with some failures and learning lessons, but we took it all in stride, excited to apply what we learned to the next season.

When we moved to a much larger home in North Beacon Hill in 2012, we expanded and continued our love of gardening in beds, directly in the ground and in containers. The property also had roses, peonies, clematis, hydrangeas, and Japanese maples dotting the lot and from early spring to late fall I would observe the changing metamorphosis of the garden as bright green buds changed to deeper toned leaves. Pink, red and purple blooms would burst from the flowers. Vegetable flowers would transform to fruits and vegetables. Then to the last days when the fuschia pink and orange leaves of the maples would fall to expose the branches as we headed into the colder months of winter.

The garden brought us outside and we took pride in caring for it and watching our effort turn into sustenance for our home. It also brought me endless inspiration for cooking while, at the same time, showing me my culinary limits. There was so much that I had left to learn not just about gardening and planting but also how to fully utilize the ingredients I had in abundance. Those limits directly inspired my desire to go to culinary school. I wanted to learn everything about how to cook so that I could use my garden and its ingredients to the fullest potential.

By the end of 2013, I was 37 years old and culinary school was calling to me. In Seattle, I could not see the path forward with what culinary school could bring to my life. My husband and I would talk about where we would like to relocate, places like the Bay Area or LA crossed our minds but my husband and I, both native Californians, did not feel compelled to return to the land we left. Until one November morning while sitting in bed, I floated, “what about New York City?”. In New York there were restaurants that inspired me, establishments that I could see myself working in after culinary school. There was the potential to do many things with that education. I could be a private chef or cooking school instructor.

In my naïveté, I could not even conceive the fullest potential of what was waiting for me, what was calling for me. In January 2014, we sold the house and used the money to start a new life in Brooklyn. In February 2014, I turned culinary school dreams into reality, all as a result of this little garden.

In our new Brooklyn life, we would not have a garden for many years. Even if we did, we would have been too busy settling into the new life to attend to it. The funny thing is I kept some pieces from our original home– a tiled dining table and chairs and various pots and planters because I felt deeply that someday I would have space to have a garden again.

Flash forward to 2021, we finally left our Brooklyn starter apartment and moved into a space with a backyard. I asked the landlord what I was allowed to do and he said, “anything, as long as I make it better.” Challenge accepted. We built a patio and a slowly built a garden with a variety of containers. 

We quickly found that micro and urban gardens are much more challenging compared to larger garden spaces and generous acreage. The massive hauls from our previous gardens were no where near as easy to achieve. I do not plant directly in the soil. Planters can be hit or miss in terms of successful growth. Our backyard can get extremely hot. There are different factors to contend with to create a lush garden with abundant hauls. We needed to be able to pivot and adapt. Just like with our old garden, each year we learn from our successes and failures and adjust when necessary and lean into what works. Every year the garden is different and improved from the seasons before. 

I love that while the garden is mostly in containers, it still has a sense of wildness to it. It’s become more than just a garden. It’s our dining room as soon as it gets warm enough in April until the cold begins to take over in October. It’s where I prepare meals for friends and family. It’s where we spend our evenings and watch the hundreds of fireflies burst with light. It’s where we observe the nature that Brooklyn has to offer, the many birds, the family of raccoons, the occasional bat that make their presence known. It’s where we sit at the end of each day, glass of thyme ice tea in hand and decompress from the day’s events, something I didn’t get to do and longed for last summer due to the requirements of my last role.

The garden mirrors life in many ways, everything has its season. One must be mindful to weed out the invasive plants and protect them against parasites. If you nurture, feed, fertilize, and water your plants, they will grow even more healthy. The most important thing growing plants has taught me is about resilience and regeneration. Plants are intelligent, they have memory. If they get too hot, the old dried leaves fall but new green always comes back. Humans too, can always grow back and different, we can heal and grow back stronger and more fruitful than before. I’m always so grateful for their wisdom and constant reminders to continue to grow, even after the flood, the extreme heat and the discomforts of life. It’s not the largest, the most beautiful or the most successful garden, but it provides.

As we head into an uncertain future with our farming and food supplies at risk, growing my own food, provides me with a sense of ease, knowing that I can at least offset the rising cost of food and the possible scarcity of certain ingredients. The amount of money saved on the ingredients that do grow successfully makes the process all worth it.

What does a chef grow in their garden?

I am sure what a chef grows in their garden varies from person to person but this is what I grow in my garden. As much as possible I want this space to be simultaneously beautiful but also practical and useful.

Tomatoes

After multiple seasons of unsuccessful attempts to get our tomatoes to grow healthfully in the too small containers we designated for them, we invested in a large raised bed to grow them in with 4 foot cages for the vines to climb. We started some from seed and also purchased some starts from the Union Square Farmers Market. The starts we purchased that looked the healthiest are thriving, while the more spindly starts we purchased have struggled in the heat. I like to have a variety of heirlooms like Green Zebra or Brandywine. This year I also have a super healthy and happy Jersey Boy and a couple of different varieties of cherry tomatoes. I plant herbs known for being companions to tomatoes, as well as marigolds to bring in pollinators. The Jersey Boy is the star of the summer, with one plant already providing us with many meals of tomatoes and last night I counted somewhere between 30-40 more on their way. 

Lettuces & Greens

Romaine, kale, fancy lettuces. In the few years I have been urban gardening, this is my least successful year for my tender greens. The heat has been a real factor. In years past, I have been able to pull full salads from the garden but this year, the heat has stunted everything. All lessons to apply to next year. Now we know to take extra measures in combating the heat that radiates from our white fencing. Next year we will be covering up some of the fence to keep it cooler in the back.

Peppers & gourds

Italian green peppers because we have a fantasy about sourcing most of our gazpacho (Link to recipe)  from the garden. The past years have been really successful in this department but again the heat was a real killer. I also think the planters I have been using are contributing to their demise. They are too small so next year, we go bigger. I have grown some peppers but after a few hot weathers weeks, they have been less active.

Herbs

I used to spend quite a bit of money on herbs and ended up wasting quite a lot. Not only do I have finishing herbs anytime I want but I also have less herb waste because I pick what I need. The herbs seem to have the most success year to year. I have enough chives, sage, thyme, shiso and tarragon to supply my whole neighborhood. I also like to grow rosemary, lavender, mint, coriander, parsely, and basil. Nasturtium leaves bring in peppery notes to a summer salad and the orange and yellow flowers not only bring beauty, they also attract bees and they are edible. The amount of money I save on chive alone. I have unlimited chives, enough to share with my neighbors.

Flowers

I mentioned marigolds help bring in pollinators but I also brought back some favorites from my former Seattle garden like a large container of pink hydrangea and a climbing purple clematis. The chives blossoms in the spring.