I’ve long mentioned my desire to plant a vegetable garden indoors. I’ve grappled with figuring out where and how I would set it up, what sort of mixtures I would use for different plants, how much light I could give them, what types of fertilizer I would need to get, and so forth. The limitations of an indoor apartment vegetable garden combined with the complex needs and desires of such a garden were daunting. I ordered books, I did research, I realized, to my increasing frustration, that the world was patting me on the head and going, “there, there, darling, wouldn’t you like some lovely flowers? Perhaps you won’t kill your next dull potted plant.” keep reading »

When I was a kid, my mom grew all kinds of stuff in our teeny tiny backyard garden. Fat, juicy tomatoes, radishes, tiny little strawberries, and zillions of flowers. Our garden was wonderful. It always amazes me to think how much my mom attempted – and often succeeded at doing – in that tiny little house. She would cook feasts, bake tins of shortbread cookies, assemble furniture, still somehow had time to finish her degree, work long hours, be a mom, and spend time with me just hanging out. In addition to all her home cooking and gardening, we’d hit up our local indie video store and rent a few movies, order a large pizza and a totally junk food salad drenched in oil and vinegar dressing that, to be honest, was mostly oil. keep reading »