Becoming The (Grow Your Own!) Grocery Fiend

I started this blog five years ago while I was in college, on a budget, and loved walking every single aisle of the grocery story. Now I'm out of college, still on a budget, still love walking the aisles of grocery stores, and in love with the magic of gardening. So I'm going to document my own growing here, not just my parents' awesome garden. I didn't think to share in this space before because my little experiments often turned out fruitless (literally, har har) and I rarely actually got to eat or use the things I grew.

Because they died.

And while I am sort of guilty about killing probably a dozen different plants over the years, from herbs to tomatoes to squash to lettuce, the magic of watching things grow is just irresistible.


This is the little stoop-garden I had last year:

The only thing that survives from that array of plants is the basil, and just barely.

I've always been inspired by my parents, but their garden is so bad-ass that I was a little bit embarrassed about sharing all of my little putterings with dirt and seeds. Lately, though, after two-plus years of re-watching episodes of Jamie At Home, I've adapted a more casual approach to growing food. That it can be easy. That it's okay not to have the perfect conditions or resources because it's a chance to be creative-- and that it's fun. That watching a plant go from seed to tiny sprout to edible food is magical.

So, for the last three months, I have been tending a little garden in my apartment complex parking lot. I think some of my neighbors probably think I'm weird, but I think others are probably amused if not a bit excited, too. One morning a few weeks ago, a woman came up to me while I was puttering around the garden and said "I've been living here for five years, I love to garden, and I never thought to do it here." And then we chatted a bit about what I was growing and I invited her to start in the plot next to mine. A little pot with tiny sprouts has appeared on another neighbor's doorstep. Something good is happening.

Gardening has been both delicious and healing, and I'm looking forward to sharing and documenting my little growing adventures here. No more shyness!

A cel phone picture of my garden, about a month ago. More to come!