If you have a small patio or a window with direct sunlight, it would be a great idea to start a mini-garden. I started my garden a year ago, on my mom’s advice. She said, “It’s a great exercise in discipline, and the rewards are fruitful, literally.”
Me having not so green a thumb and two tiny patios chuckled at the idea but decided to give it a try. I went to the local hardware store and bought two five gallon paint buckets, potting soil and some tomato and basil seedlings and got to work. I drilled five tiny holes in the bottom of each bucket, filled each with soil and planted the seedlings, then a drink of water for each. I placed the plants on the patio facing west, so they can get at least six hours of direct sunlight. I left the plants alone for a few days then I took a look and noticed that they were growing. I continued to water them every other day, and three weeks later, yellow flowers began to appear. Before I knew it, little green tomatoes started growing out of the flowers. I began to add coffee grinds to the soil after I drank my morning cup of joe, then topped the soil with paper from the shredder for mulch, and the basil began to grow quickly. Nice!
Two less things I have to put on my grocery list that normally have to sit on my counter to ripen but eventually go bad. This is ripened-on-the-vine, organic fruit and herbs that taste better than any supermarket’s produce. Homegrown basil, combined with garlic, pine nuts and olive oil, creates the freshest, most fragrant pesto ever. Add diced tomatoes and pasta and you have a quick, impressive entrée. If the tomato is very fresh and ripe, I prefer it simply sliced, with a little salt and cracked black pepper.
This entire summer has been unusually chilly in Chicago, so the plants are growing a little slower than the previous summer but more manageable than last year. Last year, so much basil and tomatoes grew from these two buckets that I had to eventually give some away. The commitment of the initial two-hour set-up and two minutes per day is nothing compared to what you get in the end. Although I haven’t gone that far, I’ve met people that grow lettuce, cucumbers and peppers, all in containers on their city patios. As the summer comes to a close, and my girlfriend won't let me bring those unattractive paint buckets inside, I’ll try to grow a smaller herb garden during the colder months.
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