Despite it’s lethargic start, the garden is now in full swing.
The cooler weather seems to have been most beneficial to the salad bowl, which is still going strong, even though we’re halfway through July. By this time last year it had already bolted and gone to seed. I love to go up to the roof and aimlessly stare into the variegated shades of green, interspersed by the occasional frond of delicious red leaf lettuce. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something soothing about staring at this picture.
I suppose you could say I have the pastoral dream, and though I’ve had a blast growing my little microcosm of deliciousness on the roof these past 2 years, I am really looking forward to this taking off, so I might be able to have some in-ground opportunities. I’ve often considered propositioning some of my Little Italy neighbours for just such an arrangement, being they are mostly older and retired, but one glance from our rooftop confirms that they still take pride in their yards, growing tomatoes, grape vines, and zucchinis galore. In some ways the Sharing Backyards concept reminds me of a favourite childhood book, The Tiny Little House. The gist of the book is an old woman who makes amazingly delicious cookies, but has nowhere to sell them. Her and two mischievous little girls decide to renovate an abandoned little house into a cookie shop, and hilarity ensues. Like the old woman from The Tiny Little House, some day my ideal space will come…
