Fresh Herbs on my Balcony – Suzette
Growing up, my grandmother kept a large garden in her backyard. She grew sunflowers, berries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and more that I cannot remember. The bright summer mornings helping her in the garden and then devouring our fresh harvest are some of my favorite memories of childhood. One day, my youngest sister was so excited to eat the first cucumber of the year that she just bit into it as if it was an apple!
I’ve grown up and moved away from home. Like so many people my age, I don’t own a home. I live in a dinky little apartment 3 floors above the nearest patch of land and that land is mostly concrete.
After a year of living here, I got sick of never having fresh food and throwing away whole bunches of store bought herbs that went bad too quickly. A full 1/3 of food produced for human consumption is thrown away and that the carbon dioxide emissions of this waste ranks behind only the US and China as the worlds top emitter*. Knowing that, I feel terribly guilty every time I had to waste food. That is why I’ve resolved to start my very own, very little garden!
Starting an apartment garden is very different from turning up some soil in your back yard, so I decided to start small. Basil, mint, and parsley all now grow happily on my window sill. I started with a little kit from ModSprout, which was actually Christmas gift from my grandmother. This simple kit has given me a good starting place and with a little experience under my belt, I’m preparing to extend my little garden out on to my balcony. Fresh tomatoes, here I come!
*Further reading: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf
hellosustainable 