One thing I took for granted growing up in a small town is the time spent in the summer gardening. We always had a big garden at my grandparents house next door full of squash, pumpkins, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, Brussel sprouts, green beans& asparagus.

There’s a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into bringing home grown veggies and fruits to the table but what an amazing experience to literally get to eat the fruits of your labor!

When I moved to the city my grandmas and mom made sure to send me home with garden grown fresh produce. Having apartment hopped my first 3 years of living in Chicago I wanted my first “home” to be able to sustain a small outdoor garden. I knew it wouldn’t be anything like I grew up with, but being able to home grow herbs and veggies we use for cooking and not buy them at the store is something I’m extremely passionate about.

As a new gardener there was a lot to learn. I did research on the type of plants that would do well in a more shady environment - we don’t have a ton of direct sunlight. And plant food etc.

We have two window boxes attached to our railing & one hanging basket. My husband loves flowers so we agreed to have those be assigned specifically for flowers. I have always loved geraniums so I did a mix of geraniums & dusty Miller because I really love its silvery look.

For the hanging basket I used three petunia plants. They aren’t my favorite flower but I love how they drape down naturally from the basket.

All of our vegetables & herbs are pot planted along the sill of our deck. I rotate the pots daily to make sure they are given enough light and we have been using Miracle Grow vegetable food once a week & so far so good!

Since this is our first year, we have started small with herbs - basil, cilantro & peppermint. I’m really looking forward to using peppermint for mojitos & an at home recipe for Philz Coffee.

As far as veggies we decided to stick with 2 that we utilize most frequently in cooking - tomatoes & Serrano peppers. More to come on those as they aren’t quite fully grown yet. I’m really excited to sub in our homegrown Serrano peppers & tomatoes into Parth’s mom’s famous salsa recipe!

So how about you? What success have you had with city gardening & what advice do you have for a beginner like me!