Final fall, I moved right into a Brooklyn residence with a balcony and made a promise to myself that I’d learn to backyard. I poured over heirloom seeds on-line and set one reasonable-seeming aim: to carry a single vegetable in my hand that I’d grown from a seed.
Spring rolled round. Once I opened the seed packets I’d confidently ordered months earlier, most of them had been alarmingly tiny. Would a single additional drop of water kill this? I puzzled. However after googling issues like “overwatering vs under-watering” and studying a bunch of gardening ideas that I instantly forgot, I planted my seeds in starter trays by my front room window. If all the pieces went in response to plan, they’d get large enough to go outdoors simply because the night temperatures stopped dipping low sufficient to kill them.
“I’m undecided that is going to work,” I instructed a buddy who had a plot at a close-by group backyard. “Seeds wish to develop,” she replied. It was very reassuring, and certain sufficient, inside days, little sprouts had been capturing up.
From then on, the state of my seeds was the very first thing I checked each morning. If I went away for the weekend, I’d drop my bag as quickly as I returned and head straight for them with a pitcher of water. I used to be sitting on my residence ground repotting when the April fifth earthquake hit New York Metropolis; I needed to wipe the grime off my fingers earlier than checking my cellphone to determine what was happening.
By mid-April, nonetheless, issues appeared a bit bleak. My vegetation had flatlined. They didn’t appear large enough to maneuver outside, however I adopted a planting schedule based mostly on the final frost anyway. It was good to have a cause to go outdoors so early, and gardening made me extra attuned to the climate. Wind had been a minor inconvenience till vegetation with skinny stalks that I very a lot needed to outlive had been in its path. Temperature wasn’t one thing I accessed first via my cellphone’s climate app; as a substitute, I felt it every morning once I opened the balcony door.
Sooner or later, carrying pitcher after pitcher of water from the kitchen sink, I additionally realized that I didn’t often spend a lot time as a newbie. It felt good to expertise the frustrations and delights of somebody who’s simply beginning out. Once I planted beans, I used to be reminded of how little I knew. I’d ordered Hidatsa Defend Beans principally as a result of they’re so stunning. When it was time to sow them, I used to be confused: I plant a bean and it…multiplies into many beans? Grows into some form of bean bush? However as a substitute of turning to the web for an immediate reply, I made a decision to let myself be shocked.
Spring turned to summer season. I picked a number of dozen snap peas earlier than the vegetation died of what I imagine was heatstroke. I used to be on monitor to develop juicy heirloom tomatoes after they bought some form of brown rot that may be brought on by over-watering, under-watering, an excessive amount of fertilizer, not sufficient fertilizer, or perhaps the stress of being my most desired plant. The cucumbers that started off sturdy grew bulbous and tasted…off. I’d not be 2024’s reply to a younger Martha Stewart pulling up handfuls of greens in dirt-stained denims and a cream cable-knit sweater, however I used to be nonetheless having a great time.
Regardless of some setbacks and a teeny yield, I met my aim and even surpassed it. I beloved clipping recent rosemary and chives from their pots. I made a number of balcony-to-table kale salads. My favourite plant was the floor cherries grown from a seed that first arrived in North America with a Russian immigrant and had been handed down via generations of ladies. When you peel off the papery husk, it tastes like sugary cereal from the nineties (in a great way). Plus, there have been the non-plant good points, like watching bees buzzing round my balcony and chatting with neighbors about what we had been attempting to develop.
I lately texted a buddy who has been gardening for years in California. “The newbie is shocked when a plant grows from a seed; the seasoned gardener expects it,” I wrote. He answered: “I believe each gardener is delighted by what they develop.” It’s good to know that pleasure doesn’t diminish as you get extra expertise.
This primary summer season season, I made loads of errors, however I didn’t let that get in the best way of having fun with the method. Despite the fact that it was low stakes, each single factor that grew made me giddy. When one thing didn’t work out, I realized what I might or blamed the warmth, which is straightforward when it’s August in Brooklyn. I’m nonetheless a bit heartbroken about these tomatoes, however total, the entire gardening expertise was a pleasant reminder that you simply don’t should be significantly good at one thing to have enjoyable doing it. I’m already planning for subsequent 12 months. I even have a brand new aim: develop no less than one huge, juicy heirloom tomato.
Do you backyard? What do you like rising? What ideas do you will have?
P.S. 14 readers share their beautiful gardens, and a San Francisco dwelling with a stupendous backyard.
(Photographs by the writer.)
