0:06

One of the things I loved most about New York

0:08

is how people use the space. I

0:11

once peeked into this tiny art studio

0:13

on Avenue A that had been turned into

0:15

a drive in theater. Someone

0:17

just pulled a car into it, and for

0:20

a price, you could sit inside

0:22

that car and watch a movie on the wall.

0:25

It was ridiculous. But

0:28

that's not the only example. My

0:31

favorite museum of the city is in this

0:33

tiny freight elevator shaft. I've

0:36

been to book signings and drinks

0:38

in cemeteries, inside

0:41

mausoleums. I've seen an apartment

0:43

with a drawbridge in it, honest to God,

0:45

like a drawbridge that the tenant built

0:47

so he could lower it and crawl from

0:50

this tiny platform on one side to

0:52

his loft on the other side. But

0:54

what I'm really trying to say is that despite

0:57

the lack of space in the city, people

0:59

come up with insanely ingenious

1:01

ideas. So I've

1:04

been curious, how do people really garden

1:06

in the city, because this is

1:08

not the suburbs. When you've only

1:10

got a balcony, or, let's be honest, a

1:12

fire escape that you call a balcony,

1:15

how are you supposed to build the garden of your dreams.

1:19

I think you have a pretty good sense of my gardening

1:21

ambitions by now. I am not

1:23

trying to live off the fat of the land, but

1:26

I would like to use the space I have to

1:29

I don't know, create some life and

1:31

and then put that life into a salad. And

1:34

I want to use this hobby to connect with the earth,

1:36

because while the rest of the world is

1:38

looking up, dazzled by

1:41

our cities skyscrapers, there's

1:43

this whole beautiful ecosystem here

1:46

growing at our feet. Hey

1:51

there, I'm monga fatigular co host

1:53

of Part Time Genius, one of the co founders

1:56

of Mental Flaws, and this is Humans

1:58

Growing Stuff, a collaboration

2:01

from my Heart Radio and your friends at Miracle

2:03

Grow. My goal is to make this

2:05

the most human show about

2:07

plants you'll ever listen to, and

2:10

along the way, we'll share inspiring

2:12

stories, tips and tricks to nurture

2:14

your plant addiction, and just enough

2:17

science to make you sound like an expert. This

2:20

episode is for the city dwellers, all

2:22

of you out there with very little time on your

2:24

hands and even less space in your

2:26

homes. All you need is a little dedications,

2:29

some creativity, and less square

2:31

footage than you think. Today's episode

2:34

is Me and the City Garden, Chapter

2:38

three, Bright Lights, Big

2:40

Snake Plant. In

2:43

the last few weeks, we've acquired a lot

2:45

of new roommates, and it's great.

2:48

For the most part. I have all these new

2:50

plant friends to keep me company in

2:52

the living room, joining me when I edit

2:54

or read or watch TV, and

2:57

seeing all that green it genuinely

2:59

makes me happy. But

3:01

I'm also noticing it's getting a little

3:04

cramped in here, and I am constantly

3:06

shuffling my plants around. So it's turned

3:08

me into this weird plant

3:11

real estate agent. Like every

3:13

day I'm showing different areas to the plants

3:16

and taking them on walkthroughs and trying

3:18

to sell them on a particular window because

3:20

it will be such a good fit for

3:22

them and their kids. Because

3:25

yes, I am talking

3:27

to my plants now and trying

3:30

to find them the perfect home within

3:32

my home. But as

3:34

I run out of obvious locations in this apartment,

3:37

I'm trying to figure out what else

3:39

is possible. How can I maximize

3:42

my space and feed this new plant addiction.

3:45

So I called up our friend Anna from the

3:47

Instagram account and YouTube channel

3:49

plant Anna Plant, and it's

3:51

got over a hundred plants crammed into

3:53

her beautiful apartment in Toronto,

3:56

and I'm hoping she can help us pull back

3:58

this big green curtain of possibilities.

4:05

Hyanna. First things first, tell me

4:07

how did you fall in love with plants? Growing

4:10

up? I always had a backyard, and my parents

4:12

always took amazing care of all

4:14

of our gardens and all of the plants and everything.

4:17

And then I had an opportunity to do part of

4:19

my PhD in Australia, so I moved

4:21

to Sydney for a little while, and living there, they

4:23

don't have winters like we have in Canada,

4:26

so that meant that I was around plants all the time.

4:28

And once I finished I moved back to Canada,

4:31

I realized that life seemed a little

4:33

bit different when I was no longer surrounded constantly

4:35

by plants. And I bought four little

4:38

succulents in May of and

4:42

that for little succulent planter

4:44

all of a sudden turned into twenty and then

4:46

thirty and then forty, and then next

4:49

thing you know, we had over a hundred plants.

4:52

I just I felt so much better. It was one of those

4:54

things where being surrounded by greenery and bringing

4:56

all the plants inside was just an amazing

4:59

thing. I end up that's have been this like major

5:01

distraction from the pandemic for

5:03

for a lot of people. But I'm curious for

5:05

you, what are the joys

5:08

of sort of being in an indoor jungle?

5:10

It just it makes me happier. And with

5:13

doing a PhD two, a lot of the work is

5:15

done alone, particularly like with

5:17

data analysis and writing and everything. And I

5:20

always felt so much better sitting among

5:22

all of my plants in the one particular area where

5:24

we have a lot of them, and it just I found

5:26

it calmed me. It made

5:28

me feel more grounded. And also it would

5:31

give me a little break if I wanted to care for my plants

5:33

at all. Um So, yeah, so just being

5:35

around them definitely made me a lot happier.

5:40

Let's get into growing in a small apartment.

5:43

What do you think is the the easiest

5:45

way to start growing? We

5:48

actually have to think where is my plant going,

5:51

what are the conditions there, and what plants

5:53

will thrive or at least do decently

5:56

well in those type of conditions. People

5:59

will at succulents and they'll say that they kill

6:01

all the succulents all the time. But then when you find out

6:03

where they are, they have them in a hallway that has no natural

6:06

light, or they're in the middle of

6:08

their dining room table that has very very

6:10

little light. You really need to think about like

6:12

the actual conditions of the

6:14

spot where you want to put a plant, and then kind of work backward

6:16

from that. I like to think about

6:19

it that way. Um, for

6:21

for let's say a bathroom where there's

6:23

a lot of humidity but maybe less direct

6:25

sunlight, do you have some suggestions for

6:28

for your favorite things to put in there? If

6:30

if you have humidity, then you would want

6:32

some type of tropical plant. Sometimes

6:34

people think that cacti and succulents will want

6:36

humidity, but they don't because they're they actually originate

6:39

in the desert where there's very little or no humidity

6:41

at all. So for places where there is humidity,

6:44

thinking not only just the bathroom, but also

6:46

a kitchen too, because our kitchens actually have a lot

6:48

of humidity in them. So something like

6:50

a pathos is a really good plant to

6:53

put in there because they can they can handle

6:55

the humidity, they can handle lower

6:57

light, and they don't need as much

6:59

care like the not considered a high maintenance plant.

7:01

So Apothos is one of those plants that tends

7:03

to be underwhelming to some people.

7:06

People don't necessarily love them, but they

7:08

are a really great plant because they grow

7:10

fast. You can trail them along the wall with particular

7:13

hooks that you can get, they can hang down,

7:15

they can go in the shower with you.

7:19

Talk to me about these moss balls

7:22

or Marimo moss balls. They're so

7:24

cute. Yeah, and oh gosh,

7:26

Okay, so that is a story and a half, which

7:30

So I was in Calgary

7:32

for work and I saw

7:34

them, So the Marmo moss balls, which are actually

7:36

not moss, they're actually lge and I saw

7:39

them at a really cute plant store and

7:41

I decided I was going to buy them. But they need

7:43

to be in water, and they specifically need

7:45

to be in tap water because they feed

7:47

off of whatever is in tap water.

7:51

So, as we all know, we're not

7:53

allowed to fly with liquids. Right. So

7:56

I'm in the Calgary airport with my partner

7:59

and I had them in a little bag. I had them in water, and

8:01

right before going through security, I had to dump all

8:03

the water out and they're in this classic bag.

8:07

I was bringing home more plants than just

8:09

that, so my carry on was full of suck. I've

8:12

got a box in my lap and I've got these. The security

8:15

person when they're running everything through that little X

8:17

ray machine is, excuse me, there's something

8:19

in there that I need to take a look at. So she opens my

8:21

bag, she pulls them out. She said, what the heck are these?

8:25

So I explained to her she did not care

8:27

about plants at all, which is completely But

8:30

then once we got through security, we then had

8:32

to refill the

8:34

the bag with water and then I just sit with my

8:36

marmal moss balls in a bag of water

8:39

with the succulents on my lap from Calgary

8:41

to Toronto. When you go to new cities

8:43

and new regions, are are are you looking

8:45

for plants to add to your collections?

8:48

Chances are, if I've been traveling within Canada,

8:50

there is a plant or five in there. How

8:53

are you making time to water

8:56

all these plants appropriately? And

8:58

and and fit in the the plant care

9:00

into your life? And and also do

9:03

you speak to your plants? It's

9:06

not that plants react

9:09

to your voice. What the research actually

9:11

shows is that people who talk to their plants

9:13

tend to be more involved in their care.

9:16

So it's not actually the talking

9:18

that impacts the plants. It's the fact that because

9:20

you're talking to your plants, it shows that you're interacting

9:23

with the more. So you're going to notice things

9:25

such as if they have test more, or if there's dead

9:27

leaves, or if they need to repot it or water. It's

9:31

a really really interesting phenomenon.

9:33

What do you think some of the biggest misconceptions

9:35

are about trying to grow things in a small apartment.

9:38

Yeah, there's a misconception that people

9:40

say, oh, I have a small space, I'm not going

9:42

to bother because I don't want to crowd

9:45

for people who are obsessed with plants, there's

9:47

actually no such thing as not enough space for plants

9:50

with really small spaces to Another thing that people

9:52

tend to not think about is working

9:55

vertically. Building vertically is

9:57

an amazing way to add a whole bunch of plants.

10:00

We also have plants hanging from the ceiling, so

10:02

that's another way to where you have a really small space

10:04

and you can add extra foliage there,

10:06

or you get plots that are supposed

10:09

to go against the wall, or you

10:11

can get strip lights so you can get indoor

10:13

growing lights and you can put that under your shelf,

10:15

and then you can put your plants there as well too. So

10:18

just because you may be thinking

10:20

that you're restricted based on the fact that you don't have light

10:22

or something like that, you can definitely get good

10:24

quality grow lights and that can really expand

10:26

your ability to put things in different

10:29

places. But I think trying

10:31

diving in doing it, I think, I think,

10:33

to me, that's incredibly important. And

10:36

if I buy an extra one, my partner generally

10:38

doesn't notice or except if it's just

10:41

because we have so many points. But I,

10:43

yeah, I don't know, it's it's hard to explain

10:45

it. I know, No, I I completely

10:48

agree with what where is? I mean, I've only started

10:51

gardening recently, and just walking

10:53

into the living room and seeing these

10:55

plants makes me happy. But then also

10:58

the little routine and a little care of

11:00

of watering them is really meditative.

11:04

It is. It is and also things too. And I

11:07

know your daughter likes the basil plants or basis

11:09

as she calls them, which is so good. How

11:12

awesome is it to make pizza or

11:14

passa sauce, or you're making a sturfire or

11:16

something, and then you put the basil that

11:18

you've been growing yourself. It's

11:21

something that's so small, but it's it's awesome

11:23

and it's something that you're doing. Yeah,

11:29

and a plant and a plant is the

11:31

Instagram account. Thank you for taking

11:33

time away from your your kiddo and family. I really

11:35

appreciate it. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This

11:37

is being great to talk about. And

11:42

now here's Mangoes

11:44

inner monologue. Today,

11:48

I saw a rat carrying a slice of pizza.

11:51

He dragged it over to a patch of dirt in the park

11:53

and he began digging, And

11:56

I thought, if he can do it,

11:59

so can i. Humans

12:03

growing stuff will be right back after

12:06

a short break after

12:11

talking with Anna, Like right

12:13

after talking with Anna, I told Lizzie

12:15

we should get a pathos. Pathos

12:17

have come up a few times on the show now, but

12:20

I couldn't quite figure out how they'd fit

12:22

into our apartment. Then suddenly

12:24

I spotted this little space above our

12:27

upright piano and it felt right

12:29

for colonizing. I don't know

12:31

how excited she is for my new plant hobby,

12:33

but she's been pretty supportive. But

12:36

even with all these new tips of trying

12:38

to think about our space more vertically and

12:40

using more shelving to store these

12:42

plants. I'm starting to realize

12:45

this kingdom is feeling a little

12:47

small for my ambitions. We're

12:49

running out of floor space. We have more

12:51

mother in law tongues than actual mother

12:54

in laws. And even though

12:56

I want to live that hashtag

12:58

plant life, I think

13:00

there's a cap on what we can actually grow in

13:02

this apartment. So I

13:04

reached out to two big shots from the New York

13:06

Botanical Garden, Ursula Chance

13:09

and Kadisha Williams, to learn more.

13:11

Ursula is the director of Bronx green

13:13

Up and Kadisha is green Ups community

13:16

horticulturist and urban

13:18

agriculturist. So

13:22

before we get too deep into this, I

13:24

want to know a little bit about the green Up project.

13:30

Sure. So Bronx green Up was started in

13:33

and it was started really by

13:36

people who were in the Bronx staying to

13:38

Bronx, people like Kadisha's

13:40

grandfather, who were saw these spaces

13:42

that they wanted to do something positive,

13:45

to make beautiful grow food for the community.

13:47

And so those kind of organic efforts were

13:50

starting and people turned

13:52

to the Botanical Garden to help with these efforts.

13:54

In the Botanical Garden created the Bronx Greenup Program

13:56

to to really do that one thing

13:58

that is really exciting.

14:01

I think for me, there's this almost

14:03

organic conversation between cultures.

14:05

So people come into the garden and

14:08

even back you know, at the beginning

14:10

of this, when a lot of these lots didn't have anything

14:12

in them, people were coming together

14:14

the growth stuff. Even though there may

14:16

be language barriers, even though they come from

14:19

completely different cultures, they'd be excited

14:21

about the same plant. While

14:23

we all come from different places, we have

14:25

different faces, we still

14:28

need to eat. And that was

14:30

a really good way that we tire

14:32

our cultures together in the ways that we

14:34

build community. Yeah, that's

14:36

incredible. I I was thinking about that too, just how

14:39

we are so often like siloed

14:41

in our own apartments and our

14:44

own like work and whatever. But

14:46

but that the garden really gives the space to almost

14:49

forces interaction between not just communities,

14:51

but also generations. I

14:53

means something that just popped into my head. Happened

14:56

a while ago when we were helping with the

14:58

New Roots Community Farm, and I

15:00

remember one time we were there and there was like

15:02

a bottle that was just laying in front of the gate,

15:06

and so I was like, oh, let me just pick this

15:08

up. I saw there was a piece of paper inside,

15:10

and I was like, oh, that's interesting.

15:13

So I just I don't know why I actually pulled

15:15

out the piece of paper, which you know, you don't usually go around

15:17

examining garbage, but I was like, let

15:19

me just do that. And then there was a note into it and

15:21

it was like, Oh, are you started a community

15:23

garden. I want to be involved. I

15:26

love that A literal message in the bottle,

15:28

just waiting for you. And it was like

15:31

I was such a moment like oh, like, I just

15:33

feel like these spaces are so precious

15:35

and important and people are really craving

15:37

that place to come together and

15:40

get their hands in the dirt and grow and connect

15:42

with nature. And I think just seeing

15:44

that like that just speaks to it, like that people

15:47

are really craving that opportunity.

15:50

What role do community gardens play

15:52

in the fabric of a city? For for the

15:54

two of you, so much.

15:58

Community gardens are are safe

16:00

havens. There's spaces

16:02

for community organizing, save

16:05

spaces for young people, spaces

16:07

where you can perform,

16:10

and spaces where you can learn, like spaces

16:12

for education, also just a

16:14

space to sit down. Like it's

16:16

all of those things combine it's

16:19

a hub. Yeah, I mean, just

16:22

more to echo what Cadisia said, I mean

16:24

I do. I do think community gardens are kind of

16:26

the heart of a neighborhood and community

16:29

and all that they can offer and provide.

16:31

And I see that so often and

16:33

just there's so much and

16:36

just taking a space on a hot day

16:38

to sit in the shade and cool down.

16:41

There's just so many things and resources

16:43

that community gardens can offer. There

16:45

should be more community gardens all

16:47

over the world. We have to root

16:50

ourselves, put our feet in the dirt.

16:53

I love that, you know

16:55

what. One of the articles I read in The Times

16:57

that that really made me smile was that, uh,

17:00

there's this gentleman who grew so much

17:03

in his plot that he was sending extra

17:05

produced to his family in Puerto Rico, and

17:08

and it just made me curious, like, how much food

17:10

are people actually growing in these little plots.

17:12

It depends on a variety of things.

17:15

It depends on the season. Sometimes

17:18

you could do everything right and you don't produce

17:20

a lot. Sometimes it's totally by accident.

17:23

You know, not everyone tracks their produced the same,

17:25

but it's definitely hundreds of pounds

17:28

something like at the start of this pandemic in New

17:30

York City. Community gardens I think are

17:32

so oftentime leaders in their community.

17:35

What they're like, what can we do? We can grow food, We grow

17:37

That's what what's we do. And so they

17:39

could produce a lot of food that

17:41

can contribute to food pantries,

17:44

to soup kitchens, to night

17:46

just senior housing. I love

17:48

that. So you both

17:50

do such a good job with education. But

17:53

but I'm curious, how do you welcome

17:55

people in who might be a little

17:57

intimidated. Oh I love

17:59

to tell people that you're going to

18:01

kill a lot of stuff and that's okay.

18:05

Yeah, I love that too. I mean, I agree.

18:08

I feel like, you know, the more I do this

18:10

more, there's always something to learn. There's

18:12

always something new to discover

18:14

and observe. And so just reminding people

18:16

just start small. Is there any community

18:19

garden etiquette that we should all know about. Every

18:21

garden is completely different. There

18:24

are, of course similarities, communities

18:26

that look the same, that eat

18:28

the same, But the garden community,

18:31

the garden etiquette, as you say, is

18:34

completely different. It depends on the garden.

18:37

One thing I would say is asked, asked

18:40

before you take something. Most

18:43

people are really most gardeners

18:45

are like, oh, of course, sure, Oh you want to

18:47

try this. Sure. I mean you can imagine

18:49

like spending a whole season growing something and then watching

18:51

someone pick your cucumbers

18:53

with tomatoes. Yeah,

18:58

I guess that that's sort of politeness.

19:00

Hope it's not.

19:03

Though it's not. I

19:05

think it's less about politeness

19:07

and more just excitement. Even

19:09

I do it. Sometimes I go in and I

19:12

reached them like, oh wait, that's not my

19:14

fairy tomatoes. Let me ask,

19:17

let me just get positioning real quick. I'm

19:19

like enamored by it. I'm like, wow, this is so

19:21

beautiful. Look at all this stuff growing, and oh

19:23

my god, they'd be so successful, and I

19:25

can't I need to ask for pission before

19:28

I put my hands on people's stuff. I

19:30

was stunned that they are all these like bees

19:32

and chickens and the photos and it's not just

19:35

flowers and plants at these gardens,

19:37

right, of course not again,

19:42

like as culturist mix and we tried. You

19:44

know, as we go further and

19:46

further and push the envelope with urban farming,

19:49

we want to bring more and more aspects of rural

19:51

farming to the city. I think chickens

19:54

are so fun. My

19:56

community garden is I don't want

19:58

to say it free for all. It for a long time,

20:00

people have definitely been chucking animals

20:02

over the gate. I think. I

20:05

think in their minds they're like, this is

20:07

a beautiful green space and they take care

20:09

of chickens and bees, so like they will

20:11

save this duck. And children

20:14

love it, like they see chickens and

20:16

they're just like wow, like I can't believe they're chickens

20:18

here? Can we touched them? And

20:21

that's that's been really cool to to show them how

20:23

to take care of the chickens, how to feed them.

20:25

It's been good for us to we can use the

20:28

chicken manure to help for lize

20:31

our beds. It's been interesting

20:33

to learn how to incorporate

20:35

that stuff into the operation. Very

20:37

cool for for an outsider like me. What

20:40

what is the first step to getting involved in a

20:42

community garden? Do you have to apply? Do you have

20:44

to do you have to know someone?

20:46

Like? What what is the process? It's different

20:49

for every garden. It's

20:51

different for the communities. Of course,

20:54

community gardens are open to the public, so

20:56

if the gate is open, you're welcome to come in

20:58

and enjoy that space. It's a community

21:00

space, so it belongs to the community. If

21:03

you want to be a garden member,

21:05

there is usually an application process.

21:08

Um, if it's you right, and you're new, and you're walking

21:10

down the street and you see a garden and it's open,

21:13

I would walk in and talk to someone and see

21:15

what their their way is for becoming

21:18

a guarden member or getting involved. If

21:20

all those fails, if you're in the Bronx,

21:22

you can call Bronx been up with the new

21:24

Botanical Garden, and we try

21:27

to connect you to the right persons.

21:29

And then if it's outside of the Bronx, you could always

21:31

talk to Green Thumb of the New York City

21:33

Parks Department. And So,

21:36

what is the biggest reason you tell city

21:38

dwellers to like get into gardening and get

21:40

into these community spaces because it's

21:42

awesome. There's

21:45

not one reason. Everyone has their own reason

21:47

for getting involved, which I think

21:50

that that makes the experience so much more beautiful.

21:53

Well, I think just showing that the different

21:56

community gardens and farms, if there's one near

21:58

you, there's there's different ways you can get

22:00

involved, either become a member or

22:02

help ountain volunteer. And I think

22:05

also just seeing these commit gardens and are

22:07

farms just as part of our larger New

22:09

York City green space with our parks as

22:11

well. I've been

22:14

on the busiest streets in New York City and I'll

22:16

look up, you know, in late September,

22:18

and all of a sudden, they'll be a monarch that

22:20

will be flying by, you know, doing

22:22

its southern migration. And so once

22:25

you kind of open your eyes to it, you'll

22:27

see more and more that it's around us in the

22:29

city. In terms of people who

22:31

are interested in learning about

22:34

it. We're doing it, but don't know where

22:36

to start. We always recommend taking a class,

22:39

and we get a lot of people in our class who've never done it

22:41

before who always say, like, I have no space,

22:43

I'm not in a garden, and they end up

22:45

by the end of the class growing tomatoes out of their

22:47

window. So there's

22:49

always a way, you know.

22:51

That's why we see trees growing out of the side of

22:53

walls and in train stations, because they

22:56

that's the nature of a seat, that's what

22:58

it's it's supposed to do, is grow, not

23:01

to be corny, but like a seed. We

23:03

encouraged them to grow. I

23:06

don't think that's corny at all. I love it. Yeah,

23:10

that's so true. Like I think people are just

23:12

always finding different green space, like

23:14

out of their window, by their building

23:16

there's some area that they'll start fencing off

23:19

or in their tree bed that it's great

23:21

to think about different ways that

23:23

you can start start growing and getting

23:26

your hands in the dirt. Thank

23:28

you both so much for being here, Thank you for having

23:30

us. This is awesome a pleasure. And

23:36

now for another trip

23:38

to poetry Corner

23:47

and oh to community gardening etiquette.

23:52

Come one, come all,

23:55

come spring, come fall. There's

23:57

community in these leaves. Dig

24:00

into some dirt and pull up your sleeves.

24:04

But whatever you do, asked

24:06

before you eat my peas, please

24:12

thank you. I

24:16

got so excited talking to Ursula and Kadijja

24:19

that I started looking up the history of community

24:21

gardens. I had no

24:23

idea that in the US the first community gardens

24:25

sprott up in Detroit in the eight

24:28

nineties. Apparently the city gave land

24:30

a local residents along with seeds

24:33

to combat local hunger and

24:35

and the project actually thrived. But

24:38

even before that, in the seventeen thirties,

24:40

there were these craftsmen and workers

24:42

in England who started using community

24:44

gardens in Sheffield because and

24:47

I promised this is what the article said. There

24:49

was a new fad of eating vegetables

24:51

that trickled down from quote Cosmopolitan

24:54

London, and I just love

24:57

that. For

24:59

me, I think what I'm craving most about

25:02

this is community. In

25:04

the last two years, our family has moved from Brooklyn

25:06

to Atlanta to back to Brooklyn,

25:09

and it was so much harder on my

25:11

kids than I had expected. Just

25:14

when they found friends and figured out this new

25:17

system of schooling, we ripped

25:19

them away. And so

25:21

I think about community a lot, how

25:23

we could be giving them a community and doing

25:26

something fun but also good, like

25:28

growing food for pantries and soup

25:31

kitchens. When

25:33

I heard Kadija tell me about our garden, the

25:35

tak about community garden that her grandfather

25:38

and her father built from this rough

25:40

area in the Bronx and turned into this thriving,

25:43

beautiful space where apparently

25:45

rabbits and ducks can live, it

25:48

made me long to be part of something like that.

25:51

I want that New York City, a

25:53

place where people speak different languages

25:55

and come from different cultures and joyously

25:58

tend to their plots and chit chat together.

26:01

Different generations interacting and

26:03

telling stories, and just building

26:06

a place where strangers can walk in and

26:08

kick up their feet and eat

26:10

a sandwich in this little oasis, you

26:14

know, just find a place to breathe.

26:18

It's a strange little journey that I've taken

26:20

these last three weeks.

26:22

Somehow I've moved from just wanting to have

26:25

less funerals for our basil plants

26:27

so well wanting

26:29

to be a part of something bigger. So

26:32

this week, instead of just standing on the ledge, I decided

26:34

to cannon ball into the deep end. I

26:37

researched a few places close to me, looked

26:39

at classes, made a few phone

26:41

calls, and today I'm going to take

26:43

my family on a little field trip. The

26:49

sweetest thing I read in that article about those

26:51

community gardens from the seventeen hundreds

26:54

was that this economist looked at the figures

26:56

and determined that Sheffield gardeners

26:59

were healthy and more hardy than the

27:01

people who lived in places without gardens

27:03

at that time. And yes,

27:06

maybe it was because of all the extra vegetables

27:08

in their diet, and maybe it was because

27:10

of the exercise being in the field and all

27:12

that, But as the author points

27:15

out, maybe it was just

27:17

the joy of gardening itself, a

27:19

pleasure that was as profound in the seventeen

27:22

hundreds as it is today, and

27:25

I'm guessing being part of a little community

27:29

that must have helped too. That's

27:34

it for today's episode. Don't forget whether

27:36

you're a beginner like me, a pro trying

27:39

something new, or someone in between

27:41

enjoying your community garden, there

27:43

are incredible resources waiting

27:45

for you on the Miracle Grow website. Next

27:48

time on our show, we'll dig into gardening with

27:50

your family. If you like what you

27:52

heard, don't forget to rate and review the show

27:55

on Apple Podcast. It really helps

27:57

us out, and we want to hear from you.

27:59

What are your in firing plant stories and relatable

28:01

struggles and growing questions.

28:04

Tag us in your post or tweet using

28:06

the hashtag Humans Growing Stuff and

28:08

you may just hear your story featured on an upcoming

28:10

episode. Humans Growing Stuff

28:12

is a collaboration from I Heart Radio and

28:14

your friends at Miracle Grow. Our show was

28:16

written and produced by Molly Sosha and me Mangy

28:19

Chatigler in partnership with Ryan

28:21

Ovadia, Daniel Ainsworth, Hayley

28:23

Ericson, and Garrett Shannon of Banter. Until

28:26

Next Time, thanks so much for listening,