Blog

They say if you can make it here in New York, you can make it anywhere. If you're a plant that can stay alive under my watch, it's the same thing. You're one of the strong, or maybe the realistically synthetic.

Not even a week after setting up my fire escape garden, I had to go to London for work. A cautious plant owner would've called for reinforcements, like a friend who's good with water and crawling out of windows. Or maybe a trusted neighbor. I was scrambling to pack and get ready, so I figured, "Hey, these guys survived the tumult of the U.S. postal service! They're New Yorkers now!"

I went to London, where it was gray and 50 degrees in June, and got back to New York a few days later. A cab pulled up to my apartment, I carried my luggage upstairs, and the first thing I did was ... sigh a really long "I missed you tiny Manhattan shoebox with the loud neighbors!" sigh, and then I checked on my garden.

The plants were still going strong! Thirsty, yes, but also alive and green. I imagined the tomatoes saying in a Brooklyn accent, "You? Worry about me? Fuhgeddaboudit."

Confession: I did kill some herbs. I think they got too much sun. I decided to try my recent plant luck and bring them inside to resurrect them. Let's just say there was no Easter to be had.

But the tomatoes! They're my pride and joy, my honor students, my ... cousin Vinnie. They're growing tall and even flowering.

I know I need to re-think my fire escape garden soon. The plants need repotting. The tomatoes will need stakes soon. Perhaps I should start hanging plants from the rails.

And I'm feeling ambitious. I may add some strawberry plants to the gang, too. Mix it up, ya know what I'm sayin'?