THINK DESIGN TIPS

After my first five years in New York City, I was ready to call it quits. It wasn’t the frantic pace, the crowds of tourists or my meager paycheck that had me on the run; it was the lack of outdoor space. Certainly, New York has its fair share of public outdoor spaces — Central Park is lovely and every time I go I think that I should go much more often. Ditto for the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Union Square Park and, well, you name it. Despite the multiple outdoor lawns and gardens provided by the city for homesick transplants just like me, I was missing one thing that wasn’t there: private outdoor space. Somewhere I could kick off my shoes, crack a book and open a bottle of wine all within close proximity to my bed and kitchen. A little square of ground to call my own. 

I was lucky enough, several years ago, to move into an apartment that has private outdoor space. When spring came, I immediately set to work on a garden; entertaining dreams of a luscious harvest and visiting my neighbors with armfuls of ripe tomatoes, zucchini, freshly cut flowers and herbs. Sadly, this was not to be. Evidently you need experience to pull a garden off, particularly on a small city deck, and my garden was an utter and embarrassing failure. I think we got a single tomato off of about 7 plants that I couldn’t even bring myself to eat.
The following year I was much better prepared.

First of all, it is vital to the garden output that you begin with sprouts. Most gardens stores, Home Depot included (though I prefer smaller mom and pop garden shops) will have sprouts of your favorite vegetables and herbs. If you are in New York, The Union Square Greenmarket is the ideal place, as they have all the plants you can find at the more generic shops, as well as heirloom varieties and substantially lower pricing. If, however, you can’t find the sprouts you want, you can make your own with this little contraption:

The (unfortunately named) Burpee seed tray takes your seeds to sprout (even if you start outside after first frost) in less than two weeks. Less than two weeks! This speeds you towards the neighborly, arms as cornucopia of earth’s bounty fantasy, decreasing the amount of time you have to wait for your first little harvest to about two months.

Regardless of whether you are living a city or a country life, surrounding yourself with beautiful, growing things is always a healthy choice. Beautiful smelling and tasting herbs can be kept in most windowsills throughout the year, adding a scent to your home and some zing to your meals. Who knows, you may end up with your own little urban paradise:

Author’s Bio: Blythe T Hurney is a writer and poet, living the sweet life in East Harlem, New York.