Street Squash September 13, 2008

Walking around my neighborhood the other day, I saw this ingenious use of the tiny amount of space left over at the base of a privet (?) hedge:

The squash, whatever type it was, is blossoming up nicely and maybe they’ll even have some to eat by the end of the season. It’s right there on the sidewalk, goes the full length of their place, and provides such a surprising and pleasant contrast, rambling along under the formally trimmed hedge.

Green Zone had this post recently about squash and other veggies growing in a very urban area of Prodidence, RI. It’s so nice to see food crops sprouting up in unlikely places!

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Small and Square September 10, 2008

Making a raised bed for your street garden doesn’t have to be a huge project. I saw this option in my neighborhood, two small, square planters with a nicely edited selection of veggies and flowers.

One plant each of squash, alyssum, tomato and marigold per box. They looked so sweet and tidy, and probably take less than 10 min. per week to care for. Each box couldn’t have been more than about 3 ft. across. So cute!

The marigolds were just kind of glowing.

Alyssum and marigolds are both edible flowers, although I find that the marigold taste is a little too intense for me. The flowers attract pollinators for the veggies, so everyone’s happy!

Zucchini Races! August 21, 2008

One food crop that tends to do well in a parking strip is squash. It can take a lot of heat/sun and you can give it ample space to spread out, plus doesn’t need the best soil. But then harvest time comes and sometimes you have too much. Wondering what to do with all your extra zucchini? If you can’t think of any more recipes or give it away to the neighbors or food bank, you can always make a toy out of it! We went to Seattle’s Lake City Farmers’ Market last Thursday and they had a “Zucchini 500” booth set up for kids to make, decorate and race mini squash cars of all shapes and sizes.

The kids had a great time fancying up their zukes and putting them on the track for 3-up challenges. My daughter’s wheels got stuck the first time through but after an adjustment, her car won the next race! It was a super hilarious late-summer dose of garden silliness.