Adventures in Urban Gardening

Our little garden in happier times

Fresh vegetables are one of the most wonderful things in the world. It is so satisfying to skip out to the garden and fill up your bowl with fresh green goodness to prepare a healthy meal for your family. Well if only my urban gardening experience could have been more like that. When I embarked on this journey I had NO idea that it would be so difficult. Lets just start from the beginning shall we.
There is a tiny plot of dirt behind our apartment building. Who knows how long it has been there ( I would say at least 150 years, since our building was built in 1840), who knows if there is arsenic, lead or millions of other harmful things not to mention the unknown pH or soil content. Well, I decided that those gambles were worth it for a shot at some fresh veggies. So I began looking for gardening supplies. which brings me to obstacle #1. Trying to find gardening supplies in Center City Philly is near impossible. We have a K-mart here but they did not have a single shovel or seeds! I couldn't believe it. I am pretty sure the K-mart in IF has a whole shovel aisle. Luckily I discovered a tiny little hardware store that I now go to when I need things of this nature. It is my best bet.
Once I had most of the supplies rounded up I got started weeding, turning over the soil and mixing in a little good dirt. It took forever but I was holding onto the thought of those sweet veggies. Then it was on to planting. I put the seeds in and hoped and prayed they would grow. A few things started to pop up but sadly the lettuce and spinach never did! I was bummed but quickly rebounded and planted beans in their place. What kind of beans? Oh, just the most difficult kind ever, pole beans. That was an accident and a mistake. I am still just wishing I had ripped the seedlings out of the ground and planted bush beans instead. Oh well.
The glimmer of hope in this though was the peas. They were flourishing, so cute with all there tender green leaves and flowers. I was so excited. Enter obstacle #2. Apparently city mice love to eat peas. Who would have thought? But there was a mouse or a pack of them that would bite off the tender pea-lings and leave them to die. I tried sprinkling them with pest poison but still after a month all fifty pea plants were dead. I only got a handful of pea pods out of them before the evil pack destroyed them all. I may have cried a little. If it weren't for the evil rats of Nimh I could be feasting on peas as we speak.
After the peas were gone, I put all my hope into the tomatoes and jalepenos that I planted in pots on our fire escape. They had been growing really well and had lots of little tomatoes. A few were even turning red. Bring on obstacle #3. One sad day I noticed that my only red little roma had been plucked off and half devoured. Grrr. Then a week later our only big ripe beef steak met the same end. City pigeons are apparently more than happy to snack on plump juicy tomatoes. I almost cried again when Nate told me about or baby becoming flying rat food.
So here is the current tally of our garden. Orginally planted: spinach, lettuce, radishes, peas, herbs, scallions, onions, green beans, tomatoes, jalapenos. What has survived: beans, a few onions, scallions, tomatoes and jalapenos. The herbs held out for a while but after the pack of pea eating mice finished their work there, they just moved right on down the aisle and devoured the herbs. I am glad I could provide that little palate cleanser for them. The beans are growing like mad but they still don't have a single flower or pod so I am beginning to lose faith in them. At least I will still have my jalapenos. Them being as hot as the devil protects them from the city pests who can't handle the heat.
Oh I should also mention that in order to water these little guys Nate and I have to haul water in a watering can from our apartment on the fourth floor to the ground floor. I takes about three trips. Quite a pain in the butt. I guess that when they built buildings in the 1800's they didn't think to put in water spigots. I am just going to go ahead and count that as obstacle #4.
Moral of the story. Urban gardening is pretty rough. I had originally thought that at least there wouldn't be deer and rabbits to munch my babies, but after dealing with mice and pigeons, give me the deer and rabbits any day. At least they are cute and aren't genetically altered freaks that can eat poison without batting an eyelash. This post probably sounds rather bitter, and I have felt that way at points but I am coming to terms with it. I have learned a lot and feel like next year I will be ready! I think tonight I will whip up a batch of homemade jalapeno poppers to salute my mostly failed efforts. Cheers!