Spurred on by my obsession with all things River Cottage-related, I have decided to, with the full support of Handy Husband, embark upon an experiment to see just how eco-friendly and self-sufficient my family and I can become whilst living in a modern, urban environment. Phase 1 of this quest (which I’ve dubbed “The Urban Eco-Mama Experiment”) is all about home-grown produce.
I was given a plant (somewhat embarrassingly, I don’t even know what it is!) on the occasion of my blessingway/baby shower and somehow my husband and I have been able to keep it alive. I say “somehow” as historically we have not been very lucky in the growing plants indoors department and for quite some time have been lamenting our anti-green thumbs. So, feeling rather proud of ourselves and encouraged by this modest effort, we are now embarking upon a project to grow our own vegetables and herbs. This, given our poor track record plus the fact that we live in a city apartment and a country where the weather is less than kind for half the year, is no mean feat. But we see it as an opportunity to educate ourselves, challenge our notions of what we are capable of producing given the parameters afforded us and potentially a way of ensuring we have the freshest, loveliest organic produce right here at home when we want it.
A few weeks ago we happened to visit charming Överjärva Gård (described as “a countryside oasis in the middle of town”) right when they happened to be running a planting school for children. At 2 years of age, L was probably the youngest child to sit at the table in the greenhouse, but he had fun nonetheless and is still talking about the experience. Under the instruction of a very helpful greenhouse assistant, I helped L make containers for his plants using newspaper strips, simply yet cleverly folded (a great recycling activity!). He filled his recycled newspaper containers with soil and then pressed in our chosen seeds (pumpkins and peas) before giving them some water. Less than a week later, shoots started to emerge, and now the peas and pumpkins are positively thriving! Of course this is all very exciting to L (and his parents!). It’s wonderful to think that our 2 year-old has already started to contribute to our kitchen garden, learn a little about planting and grow his own produce!
Farm visits will be one of the things I’ll focus on as part of The Urban Eco-Mama Experiment, as I am keen to find ways to expose my children to a little “country life” whilst we remain living in the city and, as mentioned in previous posts, it is important to me that my little ones learn about the origins of food, thereby gaining a greater respect for produce, the environment and their own health and wellbeing. I am really excited about some of the day trips and excursions we have done/planned and will be sure to post about them as time permits.
My husband has been busy online, researching various methods/systems for growing plants indoors. Our “grow light” arrived recently and we have a mini greenhouse and self-watering pots on our windowsill. We have also invested in an AeroGarden, a “foolproof, dirt-free indoor garden” in which we have planted a variety of herbs. Not content to stop there, my husband has also created his own contraption that he calls an “off-grid hydroponic greenhouse” (photos and more detailed descriptions will follow in the near future).
We harvested our first humble “crop” of homegrown organic lettuce the other day and look forward to the emergence of our first tomatoes soon (hopefully!). One thing’s for sure, food definitely tastes better and you relish it all the more when it is homegrown!
Please do stay tuned for a guest post by my lovely Handy Husband in which he’ll discuss our urban gardening venture in greater detail. This series of posts may be entitled The Urban Eco-Mama Experiment, but it’s a family affair after all ;)!
Gallivanta says
You are on a great adventure. Exciting.
mmmarzipan says
Thank you very much! Yes, I think it is rather exciting 🙂
Clanmother says
You are always doing something exciting!!!
mmmarzipan says
Aw, thank you :)!
Clanmother says
🙂
jonabouchard says
Congrats on embarking on this adventure! Not always easy, but there is a sense of pride in growing your own herb and vegies. Good luck!
mmmarzipan says
Thank you very much 🙂 And I agree, it’s a whole different level of satisfaction!
Lilli says
Well done people! The humble beginnings are the great beginnings. Love your little helper – looks seriously intense. Love you lots, M&D xxxx
mmmarzipan says
Thank you! 🙂 Yes, he’s really concentrating here! Love you too xx
Sophie33 says
Good for you! We have a graden for 2 years now & I love every part of it & seeing your shrubs, plants & veggies grow bigger each day works really well & wait for the eating aprt, that’s fun too! I wish you well with your green tumbs!
mmmarzipan says
Ah, that’s so cool, Sophie! Thank you for the encouragement 🙂
librarianeats says
I love this! Self-sufficiency is never a bad thing, and something we’ve strived for *albeit intermittently* for quite sometime. We have mixed success and there for keep marching back up the hill 🙂 I look forward to following your efforts!
mmmarzipan says
We strive for it in the **easiest** ways possible… no shame in that, nor indeed in any effort intermittent or otherwise 😉 All the best to you!
explorenewness says
I’m SOOO excited to follow your eco-mama adventure! I’ve been debating on whether to purchase an AeroGarden for a few months now. Please let us know how you like it and if it does what you expect it do etc! I would love fresh herbs year-round. Looking forward to your husband’s guest post too. Great topic! Thanks!
mmmarzipan says
Thanks so much! Will gladly update about the AeroGarden- so far, so good 🙂
All the best!
Rhonda Sittig says
Love this post! We have a little patch of tomatoes, zucchini, basil… in the yard. And the blackberries are just coming ripe. It’s satisfying to go out and pick something warmed by the sun that you’ve watched grow. Happy “farming!”
mmmarzipan says
Thank you so much, Rhonda! Your veggie patch sounds lovely 🙂 Cheers for the encouragement!
Francesca says
Good for you! I wish I had the same determination! 😉 Best of luck for your new adventure.
mmmarzipan says
Thank you Francesca! Very kind 🙂
Choc Chip Uru says
Have a great time my friend, I love your newest venture 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
mmmarzipan says
Thanks so much, CCU! All the best to you with your studies 🙂 x
No Naughties says
Hello Miss Marzipan
I’ve started growing my own veg in recent years as well and it’s been great fun. I look forward to reading more about your and your family’s experiments! Have a wonderful week!
Tarja
mmmarzipan says
That’s great, Tarja! I am sure you get inspired to create some of your lovely things with your own homegrown produce! Have a great week 🙂 MM x
DellaCucinaPovera says
At-home tomatoes are the absolute best! There’s nothing greater than ‘farm’ to table, and picking your own veg, herbs, whatever, is awesome.
mmmarzipan says
I agree with you! It is well worth the effort :D!
Green Door Hospitality says
How very, very exciting!! We love growing our own food. We’ve only done small crops for the past two springs but are building a massive garden and hopefully starting next year will be growing a good portion of what we eat! Looking forward to more adventures of the Urban Eco-Mama Experiment!
Kenley
mmmarzipan says
Thank you so much, Kenley! I bet your garden is/will be delightful and very productive… I look forward to hearing more about it. All the best x
Summer says
Sweet you,
I’ve an award for you, for the person who you are and the things you share with the world
http://summer4soul.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/peace-is-a-free-choice-so-is-this-award/
Thank you for that..
Namasté, Summer
mmmarzipan says
Thank you so much, Summer! Very sweet indeed! All the best xx
tableofcolors says
Your urban garden looks like it has gotten to a great start! It is so exciting to watch them grow. We have been doing a little urban gardening ourselves…the only problem is that our two year old has been an eager “weeder” and so we had to restart the lettuce and spinach after she had had her little excursion 🙂
mmmarzipan says
Aw, two year-olds do love to get stuck into things, huh? I can relate! All the best with your urban gardening too! 🙂 x
afracooking says
Wow, you certainly do not do things by halves! I think it is fabulous how the two of you have set your mind to it and are now going at it full blast! I cannot wait to hear what the next results will be. Your post has inspired me to stretch myself a little further than only growing herbs on my balcony – maybe tomatoes….
mmmarzipan says
Aw, thank you very much! In terms of the effort, I would not be so enthusiastic if I didn’t have so much help. It’s a great family activity, really! All the best!
Sofia says
Great post, thanks for sharing!
mmmarzipan says
Thank you Sofia 🙂
The Perky Poppy Seed says
Miss Marzipan, I just want to reach through cyberspace and eat those lovely greens:) WOnderful job:)
mmmarzipan says
Thanks so much for the encouragement :)! I’ll be posting an update soon as every thing has grown tremendously since then… a veritable urban jungle 😉
brejniak says
Great idea. I decided make indoor vegetable/herbs garden this year. I have back big garden, but I decided to experiment with a few vegetables & herbs growing in the flowerpots on the windowsill over the cold autumn & winter days. So far I have tiny bins on two bushes, dill, chives, mint & just two days old radish 🙂 So it’s working. Waiting for parsley and plan to try the cucumbers & more herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary). Will do the entry on my blog soon about it so hope you will find it interesting and helpful 🙂
Best
Brejniak
mmmarzipan says
Sounds like you’re doing great with your efforts! My dream is to have a herb garden… and maybe a couple of fruit trees 🙂 But for now I am happy with our little urban kitchen garden. We had wonderful herbs all through the summer 🙂
All the best! x