Eden… At Last
UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND CARE OF URBAN VEGETABLE GARDENER WHITNEY WADE, VB EDITOR LINDA GRASSO, A LIFELONG GARDENING ENTHUSIAST, FINALLY HITS HER MARK.
Written by Linda Grasso Photographed by Tameka Jacobs
People who visit my Encino home in the summer, when my vegetable garden is in full glory, often remark that they’d like to have one too. I always wonder if they’d still feel that way if they could see me on a typical summer day when I’m covered in dirt, bugs in my hair, smelling like fish emulsion. If you’re doing it yourself, tending a veggie garden is a lot of work. As urban gardener Whitney Wade sees it, monitoring a veggie garden is a daily task, with watering at the top of the list. “It’s important to monitor the weather and adjust watering accordingly,” she says. “The first few days and weeks, when plants are establishing themselves, I tend to water a lot—maybe five or even seven days a week, especially if temperatures are in the 90s or above. But after the first few weeks, during typical weather (70s and 80s) it’s best to let things dry out a bit between waterings, and to cut back to three to four times a week.” After years of doing my Encino summer veggie garden myself, this year I turned to Whitney of Plant Grow Eat to up my game. I’d experienced disappointing results in recent years due to poor soil conditions (despite copious amounts of amendment), thieving rats and insect damage. Whitney convinced me to plant above-ground, utilizing 100-gallon galvanized bins. I was concerned that
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