Plant Something

Whether you have a postage-stamp yard, an acre of open space or just a windowsill, you can grow at least some of your own flowers and foods, and do it without using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers that threaten the environment and our health. In New York City's East Village, two neighbors, Andrea Kannapell and Julie Besonen, run a two-apartment windowsill gardening cooperative. Julie, whose apartment faces the sunny side of the street, grows rosemary and tarragon in clay pots, the biggest of which is 10 inches. Andrea, on the shady side, grows tomatoes, oregano, thyme, spearmint, basil and sage. They trade crops accordingly. Because outdoor space is at a premium, they save their compostable food scraps in tupperware in the fridge, then take them to the community garden on Seventh Street between Avenues B and C, where the Lower East Side Ecology Center keeps a bin right by the gate. And they can pick up cured compost here to replenish their window pots. "We're doing what we can in NYC to be organic farmers," says Julie Bensonen. And that's quite a lot.

For sources of organic seeds, see "Truly Natural Seeds for the Garden," GG95.

See also Lawn Care and Greener Garden Supplies Product Reports.