Living Well in the City--Part 2 (Nurturing Plants)

For the sake of children, growing plants in the city should focus on plants that produce food or perhaps flowers.  Growing in containers should be explored as a possibility if there is no tillable soil available.  For this post, I will assume that growing in containers is a necessity, and I will write mostly from a temperate climate perspective because my knowledge of gardening in other climates is limited.  I have full confidence, however, that what I suggest here could be adapted for gardening in other climates.

Climate zone (especially whether or not freezing temperatures occur, or whether extreme heat is common) is a limiting factor, but rainfall is not, unless you have no way to get water to your plants.  Exposure to sunlight must also be considered because not all food-producing plants will do well in shady conditions.  Wind may be an issue in some areas, especially if a rooftop is the only place where plants can be grown.

1.  If the growing containers are pot-shaped, try for a container at least 16 inches across and 8-12 inches deep--at a minimum.  This will hold enough soil to space out the watering needs to a manageable interval.  Too much smaller in a hot climate will raise the soil temperature too much, besides the issue of keeping it well-watered.  Making growing beds is another option.  Three or four feet on all sides and eight inches deep is a good size.  At least one of the dimensions should be limited to four feet to make reaching to the center possible from outside the bed.  A waterproof "sheet" can be put down before the bed is assembled and filled, but somehow drainage must be provided--perhaps by locating the bed near gutters, etc. and extending the "sheet" to the gutters.  On soil, the sheet is not necessary.

2.  Use potting soil with amendments that provide air spaces in the soil.  In the US, our best option contains shredded bark, peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite--all of which add airiness and/or water-holding capacity.  Even good garden soil, without amendments, will compact to the point of inhibiting root growth, over time.

3.  Make sure your pot has drainage holes, if it's exposed to natural rainfall.  You may need to catch the overflow in a saucer underneath the pot.  Don't let the pot sit for long in a water-filled saucer.

4.  Fill the soil to within 3/4 inch of the rim of the pot.  This will allow sufficient space for holding water while it soaks away.

5.  Leafy crops and root crops are the most tolerant of shade.  Fruiting crops are the least tolerant, although cucumbers are more tolerant than some other fruiting crops.  Tomatoes, melons, berries, and squash are all fruiting crops.  Lettuce and spinach are leafy crops, and radishes, beets, potatoes, and carrots are root crops.  It's worthwhile to consider growing crops that your children already like to eat, but it's also worth thinking about the possibility that eating something that they have grown themselves will inspire openness to previously unfavored foods.

6.  Fast-maturing crops make good starter crops.  Radishes are the champions in this regard (less than 25 days), but leaf lettuce and spinach are good too.  Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are all comparatively  long-season crops and will try the patience of children who are doing this for the first time--unless they've had some intermediate successes with other crops.

7.  Fertilize regularly.  Ideally, the fertility could come from a healthy and well-fed earthworm population in the pots, but warm temperatures will drive them to look for a home elsewhere, and too much or too little water will do the same.  If you are maintaining a worm farm elsewhere, the castings are second-to-none as plant food.  (I forgot to mention this in the previous post on nurturing animals.  Earthworms are a wonderful option, although our effort at home was not wildly successful.  Eisenia foetida is the species usually used for this, but I would simply try to locate a local species if I lived far away from here. Earthworms can turn kitchen wastes and other organic matter into marvelous plant food.)  To simplify setup of a container garden, I would probably buy some dissolvable plant food and mix it with the water according to label instructions.  Leafy crops benefit from more nitrogen, and root crops from more phosphorous, but a fertilizer with the N-P-K numbers fairly similar will probably work for everything.  (10-10-10, for example)

8.  Watch for pests and diseases.  Any critters on the leaf should be identified and a solution found, if needed.  Any yellowing of leaves or other abnormal appearances should be investigated and identified.  My rule of thumb is to go for the least toxic solution that works.  Hand-picking can work for caterpillars and larger insects.  Soapy water can work for some of the tiniest pests.  A spray made by blending garlic in water and then straining it can repel some pests.  I'm especially wary of toxic sprays on crops that have the leafy portion as the edible part.

9.  Harvest what grows.

Starting your plants from seeds adds to the thrill, but also adds to risk.  If direct seeding is done, thinning will often need to happen.  This is a good opportunity to teach life lessons--too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

All this activity can teach a multitude of skills, including some that are often included with classroom curriculum.  If information is gathered from local sources, the process itself can facilitate good contacts with people and prove useful in "becoming native to this place."

I can't imagine raising a family in the city.  If it were necessary to live there, however, I can't imagine living there without learning, with my children, about the plants and animals that are already at home there or that can be nurtured there.