From Backyard to Table: The Rewards of Urban Gardening

This spring has been the coldest one I have ever experienced. Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to take another cloudy day that wouldn't even break sixty, the weather finally started to warm up.

Saag with homemade tomato chutney and mango chutney. 

When the weather warms up, my favorite place to be is my backyard. Most people wouldn't consider it anything special. It's not sprawling, and there are areas that some would consider an eyesore. When the grass is mowed, I hardly notice the weeds. The concrete sitting area— once the site of a garage long ago removed— is desperately in need of TLC. Still, it's my sanctuary amidst the urban chaos.

This is a totally random picture of the crumbling concrete in our sitting area, but I like it and thought I'd share.

The thing I love most about my backyard is my vegetable garden. It's small— only three planter boxes totaling less than 50 square feet— but it will supply us with fresh produce till the first frost. Currently we're harvesting lettuce, kale, and various Asian mustard greens. Soon (but not soon enough!) the sugar snap peas will be ready. By the time August rolls around, the first of the tomatoes will show up, followed closely by zucchini, cucumbers, chili peppers. Let's not forget the herb garden: Thai basil, Italian basil, cilantro, thyme, oregano and mint. Amazing how much can be produced in such a limited space.

Staggering plantings allows us to have lettuce available all season. 

Once you go mesclun, you never go back. Isn't that what they say? No? Well, they should! 

Asian mustard and sugar snap peas. Okay, maybe I did plant them a little too close together, but they seem to be doing just fine.

When we were in Las Vegas this past Christmas, Mom gave me a bag of Asian mustard seeds she collected from her garden. She said to just spread them around, and they pretty much should take of themselves. She did not exaggerate. It took me all of 5 minutes to sprinkle them out, throw a thin layer of soil on top and walk away. That was mid-March, and despite the miserable weather, these bad boys still grew like gangbusters. The warmer weather is causing them to go to seed, but that's okay. I'll just collect the seeds and plant them next year.




Last fall, my neighbor gave me a pack of kale starts. I planted them and basically forgot about them. They didn't seem to do much over the winter— not thriving, but not dying either. Then about a month ago, they just took off, much to my kid's chagrin.

This week, I found myself with a ton of mustard greens and kale. There are a million and one things I could have made, but I decided it was time to revisit an old favorite. Saag. The best Indian dish. Ever.

I've blogged about saag before and received a lot of good feedback on it, so if you're looking for a good recipe or guidelines,  check out that post. The one thing I did differently here was use my pressure cooker, which did a magnificent job of breaking down the greens in a fraction of the time. By the old method, I'd have to braise the greens for a while to get them tender and evaporate most of the liquid.   And normally, I let my saag sit overnight for the flavors to meld together.  Don't have to when I use the pressure cooker because it does such a good job of extracting the flavors from the spices.

Shallots, garlic, ginger, cloves, cardamom, fenugreek, cumin seed and cinnamon—wonderfully aromatic. 

See those tough stems? They are no match for the pressure cooker. 

I had enough greens to fill the cooker two times over. As you can see, they wilted down quite a bit.

At this point, all that's left to do is blend and enjoy! Easy peasy!

So tell me, what are you growing?

Garden Update and Shout Out to my FIL

My in-laws left yesterday after a 10 day visit and we’re sad they had to go. They’re very easy-going people and self-sufficient guests. I never feel like I have to entertain them. Sonny always has such a great time with them too. When Hubby and I had a date night, they did breakfast-for-dinner night, complete with pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. Sonny’s friend was over that evening and he actually said," I wish I had grandparents like yours."

I have to give a big shout out to my FIL. He built me another planter box. A large planter box. One that holds 1 cubic yard of soil. I planned to have the soil delivered, but when I told him they couldn’t do it until later this week, he offered to go pick it up. He shoveled a cubic yard of soil into 17 bags, loaded them all into my Highlander (and they said it wouldn’t fit but he showed them!), then emptied it all into the box just so I could get my plants into the ground over the weekend. He also mowed our lawn, front and back. Didn't I tell you the man has skilz?!

My brand-spanking new planter box!!

This weekend was nothing short of perfect—warm and sunny. I got my vegetables and herbs in the ground on Saturday, and I swear they have already grown an inch or two! Here’s what I’ve got going so far: several varieties of tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, sugar snap peas, cilantro (2 varieties), basil (3 varieties, including Thai sweet basil!), thyme, mint, fennel, peppers (3 varieties), cucumber, baby lettuce, and carrots. I can barely wait!

African basil

Thai Basil. I have mixed luck starting from seed, but they had starts at the nursery! Yay!

Vietnamese cilantro. Tastes similar to regular cilantro, but I thought I'd try growing something different.

Cilantro. I actually have several of these going because I use the whole plant, including the roots.

Mint. Mojitos here I come!

Thai hot pepper. As if I wouldn't grow chili peppers!

Sugar snap peas. One of the easiest and best yielding crops I've ever grown. They like the cold so I stick the seeds in the ground around early March. Sooner or later they pop up.

So tell me, what are you growing?

Grow Your Own!

One of the things that gives me a great sense of satisfaction is eating the vegetables and herbs that we grow. My wish is to have enough space to grow a lot of the produce we eat, but it’s challenging living in a city and finding enough space to have a productive garden. Some people would laugh if they knew my vegetable garden is only 2’ wide by 8’ long. What’s the point with such a small space?? How about you? What are you growing? I want to know! Leave a comment with a link (to a post or your blog) so I can find you!

My garden. I know it looks like a random mess, but it's quite productive. This year I'm growing 3 or 4 varieties of tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, sugar snap peas, cilantro, mint, basil, oregano, strawberries.

As it turns out, you really don’t need that much space to produce a healthy bounty. The key is to be selective. Before I planted, I thought long and hard about what we like to eat and what would give the most yield for the space. Things like sugar snap peas, peppers, and tomatoes were naturally at the top of the list. Squash and cucumbers are also good bets. Still, 16 square feet just isn’t enough space, and until Hubby builds me a second vegetable bed, I also have to use containers.

Sonny wanted to grow strawberries this year. I've never grown them, so it will be interesting to see how many we get.

I've got 3 pepper plants going: 2 hot and 1 mini bell.

This is the reason I grow my own mint. Cherry mojitos!

Sugar snap peas are so easy to grow. They like cool weather so you can plant them in early spring. And they produce a ton of pods that are so sweet, you can eat them raw right off the vine. You can eat the young tendrils too! They're also supposed to be nitrogen-rich, putting nitrogen back into the soil.

Send positive thoughts for my dwarf nectarine tree. It seems to have come down with a case of leaf curl and the fruit might not be able to mature. I also have a dwarf cherry tree and Meyer lemon tree, but they have yet to bare any fruit.

I encourage everyone to grow something edible. Even if it's just herbs, it's still worthwhile. Fresh herbs are so easy to grow in containers. Every time you pluck the leaves, it encourages the plant to produce even more. You'll have basil for pesto or mint for mojitos all summer long!

The herb I use the most is cilantro. Sure, it's cheap enough to buy, but I want the roots as well and it's impossible to find cilantro with the roots. I use the roots to make Thai curry pastes and in stir-fries. I'll post a stir-fry using the roots soon. In the meantime here's a simple rice recipe using the leaves and stems. Cumin and lime (or lemon) juice give it a nice freshness. It's very versatile too; perfect with Mexican, Middle Eastern or Indian food.



Cilantro Rice
Feeds 4 as a side dish

• 2 cups Basmati or other long grain rice, washed and drained
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (water is also fine)
• Juice from 1 lime or lemon (about 3-4 tbs)
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 1 large bunch cilantro (about 1/2 cup or more to taste), finely chopped and divided
• salt to taste, if using water

In a medium pot, heat a tablespoon or two of oil over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and allow them to fry for 10 to 20 seconds. When they start to pop add the rice and half the chopped cilantro. Turn the rice in the oil to distribute the cumin seeds and cilantro. After about a minute, add the citrus juice and broth or water. (Alternatively, you could add the citrus in at the end when you fluff the rice for a more pronounced citrus flavor. ) Bring to a boil. Once it boils, cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer until the water is absorbed, about 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat, fluff the rice with a fork and allow to steep for an additional 10 minutes. Add the leftover cilantro, fluff again and serve.

I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by Paulchen's Foodblog this week.