grow my own food

I recently moved into a place that has enough space to plant a (very compact!) garden. Much of the usable space is heavily shaded by a pair of giant Catalpas, but with a little creativity and by sticking to smaller varieties, I think I can grow some exciting edibles. Because I love forest gardening so much, I know I’m going to grow at least a few low-maintenance perennial species, like black raspberries, thimbleberries, wild strawberries, nodding onions, and wild garlic. In honor of my Swedish grandmother, I might try some lingonberries as well. Herbs are a given, especially herbs that can grow in the shade. In the sunny space next to our kitchen, I’m going to grow annual veggies, like tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, peas, peppers, and beans. I’m going to experiment with some techniques like companion planting, organic fertilizers, composting, and seed-saving on a small scale, so when I do move to an acreage someday, I’ll have a little bit of practical experience that I can apply in a larger garden.

I live in downtown Minneapolis, in an apartment with no green space to speak of. I have been daydreaming and researching Permaculture and am obsessed. Permaculture goes beyond organic gardening in the sense that the entire ecology of the garden system is taken into account, and the gardener must strive to achieve a harmonious balance in which the soil, native and non-native plants, wild fauna and domesticated beasts, all live together and benefit. This involves more planning than just planting annual vegetables in a square plot of earth year after year, but once everything is in place, the theory is that a permaculture garden will take care of itself to a certain extent. Though I do plan on incorporating annuals into my garden scheme (no way am I going without tomatoes!), my focus will be on creating a garden landscape with perennial edibles and wild plants to please my family as well as the birds and bees!