Jocelyne Gallant’s small garden in front of her house
Photo credit : Jocelyne Gallant
Small garden, bountiful harvest!
By Sylvie Gallant
Translated by Marisa Zachovay-Blättler
🔉 Audio version coming soon!
You’d be surprised what you can harvest in a small vegetable patch. In Montreal in the ’70s, I was fascinated by the Portuguese who grew vegetables in a square the size of a handkerchief, between the apartment block and the sidewalk.
Five years ago, I decided to surprise my sister, who had converted her parking lot into a flowerbed. The soil was rock-hard, so I rebuilt the base with branches, maple shavings and grass clippings, to which I then added some good compost. Since then, this mini-vegetable garden has been a joy to cultivate. The rich soil retains water well, and plants grow abundantly, much to the delight of the occupants, who enjoy months of tasty tomatoes, lettuces, onions, cucumbers and various types of lettuce, not to mention herbs.
As Marthe Laverdière says, you have to work with nature. By feeding the soil, you feed the organisms that do the rest of the work. Whether in the community garden, in your backyard, in containers or in flowerbeds, a mulched vegetable patch conserves moisture, controls unwanted weeds and gives you freshness and goodness/nutrition at your fingertips. You don’t have to get in the car and pull out your wallet. You’re investing in both your physical and mental health, because getting your hands dirty is therapy in itself – and it’s free!
