My urban friend once confessed she couldn’t resist snitching a flower that was growing near the sidewalk as she walked home from the subway stop. She received a scolding from the vigilant neighbor who was hovering over her tiny garden behind her wrought iron fence.

When I was a young student, I walked back to my dorm on the Ohio State campus merrily and obliviously collecting daffodil, tulip, and crab apple blossoms for my spring bouquet. A solemn official tapped me on the shoulder. Who knew it was illegal to pick flowers?

These stories remind me that we crave the beauty of flowers and green plants. We desire the tactile and fragrant enjoyment of growing gardens, even if we live in an apartment in the middle of the city. Especially if we live in an apartment in the middle of the city.

Small Space? Add a Window Box

Is it possible to have your own miniature kitchen garden when you don’t own a plot of soil? Can you grow herbs and vegetables when you have no space? I just spent a lovely, not too rainy, not too cold, fall weekend in the borough of Brooklyn, New York. Even in this dense neighborhood it’s possible to catch a glimpse of enclosed gardens with trees and roses or an overflowing container on a stoop or balcony. Consider planting a window box on your window ledge. You’ll be surprised what you can grow in such a tiny space.

Sara and I decided to fill her window boxes with some herbs and cool weather plants that would last through the winter. We visited a local store called Sprout Home at 44 Grand Street in Brooklyn. They carry all sorts of containers and the perennials, shrubs, and evergreens that grow in them. They will even design and plant them for you if you wish.

We gathered up a collection of potted herbs, flowering pansies, and purple cabbages. We had our own brilliant scheme in mind, which turned out to be cramming as much as we could in the box. Who would have guessed you could fit four cabbage plants, two parsley plants, two pansy plants, one pot of lavender, and one pot of thyme in this tiny space? Double that for Sara’s two window boxes and she will enjoy a snip of something fresh every day.

In the spring, replant the window boxes, adding fresh soil. Synthetic soil from a bag is fine. Recheck the drainage holes in the window box. A quick way to kill your plants is to plug up the drainage holes allowing the roots to sit in soggy soil. You will have to water daily to make sure the soil does not dry out. Use a slow release fertilizer or use an organic fertilizer if you prefer. Vegetables, flowers, and herbs in containers need adequate nutrition for fruit and flower production.

What to Plant

After the frost-free date in the spring, try planting Lipstick or Apple peppers, just the perfect petite size for a small garden. A tiny eggplant is Bambino. Cherry tomatoes like Gold Nugget will do well as they flow down the wall. I am eager to try Red Currant, which is a wild currant tomato from South America. Mix in parsley, basil and thyme. Throw in some colorful flowers that will spill over the sides.

Imagine if every window in Brooklyn was filled with a miniature garden. The city would soon be green and each of us would have our own flowers to pick and herbs to snip.