The Seeds You Sow...
In today’s New York Times food section, Michael Tortorello gives an engaging and funny account of his efforts to jump on the recession-garden bandwagon. He starts with an uninspiring plot adjacent to his townhouse (which features “a bumper crop of burr grass and peppermint schnapps bottles”), does some due diligence, and asks a couple of pros what to plant.
And? “The conversation left me feeling a little like I’d shown up for a fantasy baseball draft and found out I couldn’t pick any righties,” he says.
I was drawn to this piece as a wannabe gardener who (wisely?) decided that life was already too full to add peppers and tomato stress to the mix. Plus, I love my farmer connection (Star Hollow Farm, which comes to the Adams Morgan market in DC) — the produce is phenomenal. And my yard, like my home, is rented. You get the picture. I know there are some kickass home gardeners in the HG’s readership, though, and I’d love to hear about how you started out.
In them meantime, you can read Tortorello’s full piece here.
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By Alison L. McConnell
Alison L. McConnell is the HG’s editor and publisher. She also runs The Humble Gourmand’s catering and prepared food business, which serves as a conduit between Chesapeake Bay watershed farmers and butchers, artisan/small-batch producers up and down the East Coast, and hungry clients in the Washington area.
A native of New Jersey and upstate New York, Alison attended Bowdoin College in Maine and the London School of Economics before settling in Washington in 2004. She studied the culinary arts at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MD. She abides by a long-standing family motto: McConnells always finish their desserts.
About The Humble Gourmand
The Humble Gourmand is published the first Friday of each month, edited by Alison L. McConnell, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. It is designed to offer straightforward lessons and advice to aspiring cooks, oenophiles, and all other eaters and drinkers.
The Humble Gourmand encourages users to comment on any and all of its features, but reserves the right to remove any material deemed inappropriate.
Mel
April 10 11:14 a.m. 1I have an apartment, sans balcony, but I am proud to say I had a basil plant going until December. There are definitely a whole bunch of herbs that don't need more than a small pot to make food delicious.
It won't help a home cook save any money though.