The Locavore

It’s really cold out there again today, but the quality of the sunlight is telling me spring is almost here and I can help but dream of my garden this summer. For the past few years I’ve been experimenting with container gardening.  I’ve grown several kinds of tomatoes and beans as well as a herbs and a barell of mixed greens that we ate until the raccoons used the barell as their toilet–harrumph.

This year, I plan to take it to a whole new level. My dad and I are going to build a self-watering container system based on what Montreal’s Rooftop Garden Project is doing in that city. The organization is hoping to green the city by helping people to grow food on their rooftops, their balconies, window sills, fire escapes. They’ve devised a reservoir system so that your plants don’t dry out quickly–allowing you to go away for the weekend and not worry about the chard.

It’s hot on our south-facing deck so I’ll try heat-loving plants like eggplant, zucchini and peppers. I just have to figure out how to keep the raccoons out. Ideas? Please email them to me if you do. (The comments is currently spammed to oblivion.)