Spring garden salad; ‘victory’ is coming

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Easton’s backyards were green.

Not green just with grass, but with produce. Gardens weren’t considered a nuisance or a luxury then, but those little “postage stamp” properties were supposed to, and did, provide families with the abundance of the Earth. They saved quite a bit of grocery money as well.

Not just backyards were fair game either. The apartment I now dwell in, just a block off the Centre Square was home to a magnificent roof garden that existed for over 60 years, I’m told, until about the last decade, when the roof was necessarily replaced. Before the current tar deal, the roof was covered with a sort of gravel affair, and the occupants of both my apartment and the one below me had a cooperative situation where they both gardened, and shared the literal fruits (and vegetables) or their labor. I believe it too, since I found evidence of their green thumbs in all that remains—an ancient, but hardy Concord grape vine that climbs the side of my building via an arbor and yielded an amazing crop of grapes last season.
Gardens of this sort, the kind that were placed wherever one could, with a thrifty eye for placing plants tightly, were once termed “Victory” gardens.

Both my grandfathers had this sort of garden in New York City. They continued the practice long after it was fashionable.

But fashionable or not, the neighbors were always envious, and my grandparents’ tables were always laden with fresh produce in season.

I’m not sure exactly how it came to be that gardening of this sort came to fall out of fashion. It’s not hard to do, doesn’t take all that much time, money or effort, and the benefits, both health and monetary can be tremendous.
With so many people struggling to make ends meet, gardening might be a great benefit to help stretch one’s food dollar.
You don’t actually have to have land either.

Since I doubt my landlord would appreciate my covering his nice, relatively new roof with gravel, I’m planning an extensive array of veggies in containers this season. They’ll be weed-free, and will provide me with a whole season of daily fresh salads, which I’ve been craving all winter. (I’m a bit of a salad junkie, and bagged salad is expensive, and nothing compared with the “real” thing, picked fresh daily. Sounds a bit nuts, but really, there is just no comparison)

“But I don’t have a green thumb,” you say.

You don’t need one. Can you read directions? They’re on the back of every seed package. And, for more detailed directions, it’s a great excuse for a family trip to the library, where there are tons of books on plants and gardening. The plants WANT to grow and will, so long as they get the right amount of sun and plenty of water.

Containers? Hit the recycling bins. Five-gallon buckets from the restaurants, kitty litter containers or any decent sized plastic container with a few holes drilled or poked through for drainage will do just fine. The plants don’t care, what they look like. And, if you do, spray paint the outsides first.

Potting soil? A quick trip to the recycling center for a bit of free mulch does nicely for the bottom half of those containers. The rest can be potting soil, and it’s not expensive.

Flats to get you started? Consider egg cartons. You can even save the eggshells to line them with; they make transplanting easy and the shells are a nice fertilizing addition to your soil. Clear plastic juice and soda bottles cut in half and reassembled make great mini greenhouses too.

If you actually do have a bit of land, composting food scraps is easy and will add to your potting soil for next year. It’s very rich and good for creating healthy plants, not to mention keeping some of your household waste out of the landfills. Imagine using some of your current ex-food to create more food.

Pesticides? Completely unnecessary and unhealthy to boot. Try a bit of dish detergent diluted with water in a spray bottle. Or sprinkle a bit of cayenne pepper. I guarantee this will deter just about every kind of critter that might like to take a bite out of the potential fruits of your labor. Refresh either remedy after it rains for the best effect.

Gardening is also a great way to involve your kids in family activities. The younger generation can experience and learn first-hand how plants grow, where food really comes from, and help contribute in a meaningful way to the household “income.”

Not to mention youth learning the invaluable lessons of the benefits of nurturing, as well as respecting the Earth and our environment.

It’s a great way to spend some quality time together while stretching that ever-shrinking dollar. If the kids are reluctant at first, perhaps the money saved can be used as incentive for them too. Consider keeping track of saved food dollars, and spending them on a mutually agreed upon amusement at the end of the season, provided they help with planting, watering and harvesting chores.

Personally, I can’t think of a better “victory.”

(Originally published in The Easton News, April 13, 2006)