My First Garden

by Alison Gross

I am a gardening novice.  I have never tended my own garden, and I have very rarely planted anything, or even cared for potted plants. I come from generations of women who have cared for and maintained beautiful backyard gardens.  It is unfortunate that the only time I can remember putting a flower into soil was shortly after my grandmother died. For as long as I could remember, she had the most beautiful backyard full of roses, begonias, and apricot trees.  She loved spending time in her garden and because of the cooperative Central California weather she would be out there year-round.  She would pick flowers from her garden to make bouquets for her home, and can apricots from the overflowing trees.  One particularly warm summer, I helped her use some of the apricots to make ice cream.  To me she was the ultimate gardener.

Read more here –>

Confessions of a Second-Story Planter

by Sarah Warmus

“[I]n the meantime we’ve got it hard
Second floor living without a yard”

I’ve never had my own garden.

Sure, when I was younger, I helped my parents in their flower and vegetable beds, but it was a chore, a punishment for lying or staying out past curfew. I hated it – and, at times, them – for taking me away from the TV shows, music and phone calls that seemed crucial to my teen existence.

As soon as I could, I fled to university in the big city, where I didn’t have to hear about pests getting into the lettuce. I loved the freedom of being able to choose the where and why of when I got dirt under my nails – never! – and embraced living in a concrete jungle. It didn’t faze me when a dormitory or apartment lacked outdoor space; if it was near the action and lights of the city, then that’s where I wanted to be.

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Securing the Future of a Garden

by Daniel Amstutz

The lot next to my apartment building used to be an abandoned, weed-strewn wild until my landlord bought it and started landscaping it into a memorial garden.  As I was talking to one of my downstairs neighbors as he and his roommates were building a raised bed for their garden, he expressed surprise that our landlord was not going to build anything on it.  He was not complaining, of course – our downstairs neighbors had been growing seed starts for at least two or three weeks.  Yet, in our heightened awareness of money and economy, a question immediately springs to mind: would it not be more economical, and more profitable, to construct a permanent structure on this land?

Looking out over the lot to the southeast. Photo credit Daniel Amstutz.

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A Sense for Health

by Lucia Austria

With an undergraduate degree in marketing, I have always been familiar with the role of sensory analysis in the consumer packaged goods industry. Product development, branding, merchandising, and repeat purchase habits of customers all can benefit from sensory tests and analyses. I had never applied the field of sensory analysis to any other purpose besides business initiatives, and was therefore fascinated and delighted with Christopher Tilley’s article, “The Sensory Dimensions of Gardening.” Bringing to mind the depth of physical experiences people can have with their gardens, I have come to understand how much I can explore and discover in a small garden plot using vision, smell, sound, touch, and taste. Though I enjoyed Tilley’s article, the pragmatist in me could not help but think, so what? What use is uncovering the sensory dimensions of gardening except for explaining varied experiences of gardeners and visitors?

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A Change of Plans

by Lindsey Simrell

I am one of the lucky ones. Just outside my sliding glass door is a large deck and private yard, an urban dweller’s dream. It is a space I have grown to love as I explore gardening, and a space I spend far too much time tending and worrying about. I can justify my (expensive) obsession with my plants and flowers: I simply refuse to take the outdoor garden space for granted, for as us urban renters know, lush yard space is not a reasonable expectation during an apartment search.

Last spring, at the first hints of warm weather, I began my preparations for another flower and herb filled season (with a few vegetables sprinkled in). With trip after trip to various local garden shops I accumulated soil, seeds, plants, herbs and flowers. Our yard is surrounded by a tall wooden fence, and receives luxurious shade from two very large old trees that create a thick canopy over the entire space. Once the leaves pop for the season – usually immediately after weeks of seemingly endless rain – there is no looking back. We get sun from about 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and after 4:30 to 5 p.m. or so. A welcome relief from the relentless New England summer sun.

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Soil and Composting

By Garden Group 2

Soil ———————————

What is soil?

Soil from our Fenway Garden Plot

Soil is the natural material that makes up the surface of the earth.  It serves as a medium in which plants can grow. There are four major components, which make up soil: minerals, organic matter, water and air.  Soil is important because plants grow by absorbing the nutrients in soil.  We all learned in grade school that through Photosynthesis, plants use energy from the sun to change carbon dioxide and water into starches and sugars, ie. Plant food.  Plants also need nutrients found in soil to grow.  Primary nutrients needed by plants include nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.  These are usually the most depleted nutrients in soil because plants use large amounts to grow.  Secondary nutrients are calcium, magnesium and sulfur.  These aren’t used as much, and generally aren’t needed to be replaced with compost or fertilizer.

There are twelve different types of soils, yet mainly six describe the soils people plant in: Sandy, Silty, Clay, Loamy, Peaty and Chalky

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A Garden

by Khalilah Ramdene

When I think of gardens, urban or otherwise, I think about my friend Olga. Last year she created an urban garden oasis in her backyard in the heart of Albany’s inner city. Even amongst the trendiness that now surrounds urban gardening, Olga’s decisions to start a garden of her own seemed to exist outside of the aura of the current fad. This is likely because much of what Olga does is outside of trend or fad, so her decision to garden didn’t ever feel otherwise.

Read more here –>

Truck Farm Film Screening: June 15th

JOIN US FOR A SCREENING OF TRUCK FARM!

PRESENTED BY: Boston University’s Gastronomy Program
DATE: Wednesday, June 15, 2011
TIME: 5:30pm
LOCATION: Room 313, College of Arts & Sciences, 
725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston 
␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣
Admission is free! Visit the Urban Agriculture course 
blog (www.gastronomesgarden.wordpress.com) for more
information about our Urban Ag class or 
contact Dr. Rachel Black at rblack@bu.edu

Garden As An Expression of Self

by Nicole Leavenworth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Secret_Garden_book_cover_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_17396.jpg

Strolling through The Fenway Victory Gardens in the center of Boston early on June 4th before the composting learning session, I realized how different each garden is. There are gardens that have only flowers, vegetable gardens that are meticulously planted, gardens that look like overgrown jungles, gardens that have koi ponds and a meditative vibe, small gardens, large gardens, gardens with statues, and gardens that gain their inspiration from French chateaus. Gardens are in fact an extension of the self, an expression of the self and each of the gardens are autobiographies telling the life stories of the gardeners.

Read more here  –>

Rock Garden

By Ashley Fears

In the Ozark Mountains where I grew up, we grow rocks. I’m not talking your run-of-the-mill pebble, but more like sharp miniature boulders that always seem to find your bare feet on a morning stroll.   This is a result of relatively shallow soil on top of layers of limestone and dolomite that is broken up; and in order for plants to successfully grow in those areas, the rocks must be removed.  As a child, I remember dreading Saturday mornings in the early spring every year, because it meant that my mornings would not be spent hanging out with friends or watching cartoons, but instead in the yard or in the fields with my brother picking up rocks.  As the first step of a larger growing process, it goes without saying that this wasn’t our favorite part.  “It builds character,” was the common reply from my father when I was feeling a bit obstinate.  I can assure you, after 26 years, I have plenty of character.

For generations, both large-scale farming and smaller scale gardening has run in my family, ranging from acres of soybeans in Arkansas down to my own Boston windowsill filled with herbs and houseplants.  The importance of growing things, not only for practical use, but also just to look at and enjoy, was always emphasized and the tradition has been carried on over the years in each of our own ways.

Read more here –>