Last day at the Villa Rosa cottage space before the weekend. Thank you, Rosey, for lending out your enjoyable garden plot (keeping fingers crossed for the brandywine tomatoes), hand trowel, and shady thinking bench-slab (watch out for slugs in the evening, they like to crawl onto feet...eeek. Happened.) After a week of rest, I feel in full escape mode from my apartment's parking lot view and a subsequent anxiety complex about space. But this is not about escape. It's more about steering away from "perfect". We may have come to believe that a garden, especially one that produces food, requires a mythical perfect space. In the ground. Or in a yard. Or someplace where no one can see it. I think I've convinced myself of this too. But honestly, some of the most unexpected places have the best conditions for growing food.
The good news is that plants want to grow. You can start seeds in pretty much anything that can hold soil and drains out the bottom, so your recycling bin might be good place to look.
Regardless of space or lighting, anyone can grow fresh sprouts in the kitchen. If you're thinking, "Ugggh. Susan. Get real. Sprouts?", there is more good news: sprouts are one diverse crowd. Lettuce, spinach, broccoli, arugula, and kale (along with the obvious alfalfa) are all SEEDS that will sprout in the soil. Then once they start to poke through the dirt in your dark kitchen, move the container to a sunny spot. Your seeds won't need light until they've germinated.
So it doesn't have to be scary. A small start can lead to something more ambitious, if you want. And MESS UP. Mess up a lot. Then try something new. You will become increasingly confident. We learn through doing. So here's to many messy attempts at growing something small to eat. And share. So you can pack your sandwiches, scrambles, and meals chockalock full of nutrition.
