Gardening during COVID-19
Last weekend I caught Lidia Bastianich’s PBS cooking show, “Lidia’s Kitchen,” where she featured simple recipes for cooking vegetables, or as she called them, Verdure. She made leeks with lardon along with several other mouth-watering dishes then invited her granddaughter and Nonna, her mother, to sample what she had prepared. The three generations tasted the various plates making all of us viewers jealous not to have been invited a tavola with them.
Then, Lidia did a segment on growing herbs and vegetables indoors. Not outside, but inside. The instructions were straightforward. You take a coffee or large tomato can, punch holes in the bottom, fill it with pebbles (for drainage), then soil, then seeds. Put the aluminum “planter” near a source of sunlight, water periodically and watch your garden grow. Basil, parsley, oregano, cherry tomatoes—they are all within your reach. Right in your kitchen, no less.
IT’S NEVER TO LATE TO START
What better time than now during COVID-19 to start a little garden in your home, in containers on your terrace, or, if you are lucky, in your backyard. Yes, we are half-way through summer, and it is bloody hot out there. And, it would have been more prudent to have started the project in the springtime at the onset of the pandemic. But now is now and these days nothing is normal. Plus, I can think of no healthier means of relieving stress, finding calm, and lifting your spirits during these uncertain times of isolating at home.
GARDENING AVOIDS FEELINGS OF ISOLATION
Landscape designer Michael Weishan—the former host of the PBS series “The Victory Garden”—says “If you’re a gardener, you’re never that isolated. In the garden, nature goes on; it gets your mind off a lot of things.” In addition to being a source of both exercise and fresh, organic food, gardening has been proven to be mentally and physically helpful. “So, you have cardiovascular improvement, you have mental health improvement and it lowers blood pressure because it has a calming effect,” Weishan adds.
Joan de Collibus, my neighbor, and dog clothing designer (www.ruffinanyc.com) agrees with the good doctor. “The growing process is always therapeutic for me. So much uncertainty, such as, will they grow? Is there enough sun? Too much sun? All becomes clear over time. Unlike our COVID world, you get answers every day. It is very comforting to me to watch nature play out. But, with COVID we are also watching another bit of nature play out - but the stakes are way higher and the uncertainty way greater. In contrast, growing something in the garden is a relief.”
BENEFITS OF GARDENING IN THE SKY
It’s true. I spend as much time in my New York terrace garden as possible these days when staying home is still recommended. My morning ritual starts with a quick inspection of the plants while sipping a cup of espresso. My pride and joy, a pear tree planted last year, produced perfectly shaped fruit over a month ago. Each day I admire the tree’s fruit, then give one pear a gentle tug to see if it’s ready. Not yet but soon I will harvest eight beautiful Barlett pears.
There is something soothing, too, with observing the beauty of nature in a garden, especially now. My blue berry bushes, encircled by lavender, are a vibrant study in blues and purple hues. Just looking at them gives me joy.
THE BIRDS WIN EVERYTIME
This year, for the first time ever, I encased the blueberry plants in netting hoping to outsmart the hungry birds once the ripening process began. But, the birds got the best of me anyway. They would coyly land on top of the netting and perform a gentle springboard movement with their feathered bodies which forced the netting closer to the fruit. Not knowing their brazen tactics were being watched, they would then dip into the netting and with razor sharp precision pluck off the ripest berries. Off the birds would fly, one by one, with my prized fruit in their beaks.
This year there were hardly enough blueberries for one bowl of cereal. However, fighting the birds was becoming stressful so I decided to let the birds claim the rest of the crop. I use the word “crop” in jest as there are only two small bushes growing on the terrace.
My two Home Depot starter tomato plants—cherry tomato and Stellar—are now in full production. Each day I check their level of ripening. I can almost taste Panzanella in my mouth. This is a Tuscan dish made with tomatoes, basil, sometimes cucumbers, and stale bread. I plan on inviting Joan and her bread-baking husband, Doug, over for dinner to combine his skills with my bounty.
THE POWER OF BEES
In the meantime, on my morning, afternoon, and evening strolls through the garden, I am refreshed by watching the bees buzzing around collecting the pollen and nectar from the flowers and herbs in the containers scattered about. Their movement is mesmerizing, almost hypnotic. Meishan is correct. Having a garden, as small as my terrace garden is, helps me cope.
VICTORY GARDENS TO THE RESCUE
Amid fears of coronavirus, people have flocked to gardening. In fact, it is now America’s number one hobby. At the same time as people began hording toilet paper and yeast, they were also buying up seeds with abandon. Their concern was initially motivated by “Will my family have enough to eat?” And in respond, many Americans started their own “Victory Gardens” just as they have historically done during wars and other financial crisis. Some people have also turned to modern techniques for growing food. There are even hydroponic towers where you can grow vegetable and herbs in 80 different plant baskets at a pop!
According to a recent article in The Washington Post, seed companies have been swamped. Consumers are gravitating to vegetables such as spinach, kale and other easy-to-grow, high-in-nutrition, green vegetables. Beans of all sorts, with their healthy source of protein, are also popular. Americans have discovered that even if they only have a small apartment balcony or even just a windowsill, they can still plant a few containers with seeds, add green to their living space, and produce something to eat.
GARDENING BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER
Gardening has some unexpected benefits beyond providing healthy food and stress relief. In some cases, such as with a communal garden, it also stimulates socialization. Wine marketer, Lila Gault, joined her coop building garden committee several years ago. According to her, “Our Chelsea co-op, built originally as a hotel, has two large roof decks with 360 city views. A few decades ago, a landscape company was hired to plant and tend a small garden of ornamental trees and shrubs on the upper deck.
“About five years ago, one energetic resident, an avid gardener and cook, bought a couple of planters for the lower deck and filled them with herbs - perennial rosemary and sage, annual basil and more. At harvest time, she encouraged all residents to share the bounty. More planters were added, and the garden expanded to include cherry tomatoes, peppers, and radishes. Petunias and other annuals added color; climbers like honeysuckle smelled sweet. Bees began to show up in our oasis in the sky, twelve floors above the street.
“The gardeners are now a committee. Maintenance is a shared activity among a small group of urban green thumbs. In this crazy year of a pandemic, our regular watering and weeding provides a much-appreciated dose of calm and sanity.”
A GODSEND FOR PARENT
In addition to being an escape from reality, starting a garden can be a Godsend for parents with children confined indoors and challenged with remote learning. Growing something from scratch and watching how nature works can be a hands-on learning activity. It teaches young children a whole range of skills: counting, measuring, adding, and subtracting, sorting, and colors. Further, it helps develop motor skills. And, if children are tasked with the responsibility of regularly weeding, watering, and pruning the garden, it helps them develop a work ethic as well.
Without a doubt, having a garden can be a positive, all-inclusive experience which brings the family closer together. If done outdoors, it is also an excellent way for everyone to get some exercise, burn a few calories, and soak in that all-important vitamin D.
TIPS FOR BEGINNING GARDENERS
For people just getting started, one of the easiest things to grow—indoor or outdoor—is lettuce. It takes up little room and grows well in containers or in the ground. Microgreens are also quick to grow plus they add culinary sophistication to any meal.
Garden experts recommend fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash for first-time gardeners. When you are limiting your outings to the grocery store, having fresh herbs, vegetable, and fruit in your back yard or on your terrace can be a serious edible bonus.
HOW SEASONED GARDENERS ARE FARING UNDER COVID-19
With more time at home, seasoned gardeners are taking the opportunity to expand the variety of what they grow. Executive chef and my gardening muse, Nancy Jessup, has a vast container garden at her New Jersey home. When I asked her if anything had chanced in her garden this year, she replied enthusiastically” For the first time, I’m trying my hand at composting. I’ve also been making fertilizer out of eggshells and dried banana peel.
I still have about 20 pots but have focused on growing mostly tomatoes (Aunt Ruby’s, German Green, Cuore di Bue, Czech, plums and cherrys) along with cucumbers and peppers, arugula, kale and mixed lettuce. I didn’t see myself going to the farmers market this year, so I also planted Delicata squash for the fall.”
DOING BATTLE WITH A GROUNDHOG
Even being an expert gardener, Nancy confronts the power of mother nature. “Like last year, I did battle with the groundhogs who dug holes under the fence and demolished the early plantings of greens. I‘m happy that all of my herbs made it through the winter. Nothing beats picking them fresh for the flavor they add to salads. The blueberry bushes provided abundant fruit (I‘m sure the bees helped) which we shared the birds.”
ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT
Recently, I chatted with Codi Conigliaro—a friend who advises me on my garden—about the rising popularity of planting things to eat during the pandemic. I asked her what the three biggest mistakes urbanites make trying to grow herbs, vegetables, and/ or fruit in containers on terraces or rooftops. Here’s what she had to say on the topic:
1) Knowledge of water requirements: what's too much for one plant may not be enough for another.
2) Sun/shade requirements: all 3 categories require full sun (11AM-3PM) daily to succeed.
3) Pollination requirements: some fruit trees (pears, cherries) will not fruit unless there is another species nearby to pollinate them.
Last July I wrote about my urban garden in the sky and its many physical challenges: (https://www.tartetatintales.com/main-course/2019/7/22/a-garden-in-the-sky). Even though my fellow terrace and rooftop gardeners continue to struggle with the invasion of pigeons, ants, and nasty horn worms which according to Joan, the designer, “strip every plant down to the stem,” I know better now not to complain. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. At the bare minimum, it is giving you something productive to do during these surreal times.
THE JOYS OF GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY
With all things considered, it is not the where but the why of gardening. If you are not already doing so, try getting your hands dirty planting something, no matter where you live. You’ll be amazed at the benefits. Growing either decorative plants or something to eat, gardening is a perfect way to get exercise, improve your mental health—think of it as a form of mediation-—and connect with nature. It also affords a great deal of satisfaction when you succeed. Nothing tastes better either than something you’ve carefully nurtured over time and then harvested for your dinner.
Panzanella, anyone? Check out the recipe at https://www.tartetatintales.com/dessert/2019/7/22/panzanella-italian-tomato-bread-salad