WITH SUMMER ON THE HORIZON,

Growing up, I always longed to be surrounded by greenery. I would flip through home magazines, ogling over homes that were situated on luscious sprawling lawns. I remember wishing to see trees and grass outside my bedroom window. I was a suburb girl at heart, growing up in the gray, concrete city. Fast-forward two decades and change. Thanks to hashgachah and siyatta diShmaya, my husband and I took a leap of faith and bought a house in a suburban area. There was no looking back.

Upon our move, I found myself living the actualization of a childhood dream. Our home is situated on an acre-plus of property, right off a forest that is home to deer, fox, and many other beautiful forest animals. It’s been six years, but my heart still leaps with joy every morning anew when I walk into my kitchen and meet the view I’d wished for all those years of my youth.

Living in this suburban environment (I wouldn’t call it rural just yet!) has me raising kids who are super attuned to nature—literally, frolicking in the sun, shoeless and sockless, soaking in what nature has to offer. Yes, we have chickens laying our eggs every morning and a veggie and herb patch we rely on for our produce and herbs. As I write this article, an image comes to mind of my son, barefoot, arms laden with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and other produce, bouncing into our kitchen on sunny summer mornings. How much joy is in those moments when they reap the benefits of their labor of love.

I’d love to help make it happen at your place too!

Why a Veggie Patch?

Organic produce is enjoying a lot of hype these days, and not for no reason. Organic produce contains almost no pesticides, chemicals, and preservatives, making this an ideal choice for our families. The caveat is that organic produce comes along with a steep price tag. So why not grow it on your own?

Planting a vegetable patch may seem daunting, especially if you don’t believe you have a green thumb. But it doesn’t have to be. If you live in an urban area, you might also find it hard to plant you own produce because you simply don’t have a stretch of green to grow it in. That, too, doesn’t have to get in the way of this rewarding and nourishing pastime. Personally, I grew vegetables in my miniature Brooklyn backyard in individual pots for years, and we absolutely loved what we did and enjoyed the produce immensely.

Besides for the nourishing results of a planting experience, I also love how it really helps children connect to the earth and nature. Encouraging them to rake, seed, weed, and wait exercises a variety of critical skills. They learn what patience actually means. They want to see the fruits of their hard work, but it’s a process. Growing veggies helps a child cultivate an appreciation for delayed gratitude, since it’s a waiting game. They also also learn responsibility, as tending to a garden takes time and care. Until I installed an official sprinkler system on a timer, my children had to water the patch daily. This required work, teambuilding, and skill.

With skill-building this incredible, and then delicious, wholesome rewards to show for it, who wouldn’t want to give veggie growing a try?

How to Start?

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Raised garden bed/planter pots: If you have your own outdoor space, such as a backyard, you can build your own raised garden bed by purchasing wooden planks and blocks from a home improvement store like Home Depot. You can make the vegetable garden as big or as small as you like, depending on your available space. If you don’t have a large outdoor space but you have a small porch or stoop, you can plant each vegetable in its own pot. Buy the size pots that work best for your space.

• Cardboard boxes: Once your garden bed is assembled, place some cardboard boxes on top of the existing grass/ soil to kill the current grass or weeds and prevent them from growing into your vegetable patch.

• Soil: Now you’re ready to fill your garden bed with good quality soil and fertilizer. Purchase soil and fertilizer at Home Depot or Lowe’s. (Make sure your soil mix consists of 75% topsoil/gardening soil and 25% mushroom soil/cow manure.)

• Vegetable plants: Here’s the fun part—select what you want to grow.

I’ve had great experience with all the plants listed below, but the choice is yours. Grow some or grow all: various types of peppers such as jalapeño peppers, ghost peppers, mini peppers, bell peppers in different colors; cucumbers; many types of tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, and beef tomatoes. You can also try sugar snap peas, eggplants, and strawberries. During the summer months, I incorporate almost all these veggies in dips for our Shabbos meal. Yes, these veggies go a long way.

• How to plant: Allot 2 feet of space between every veg- etable you plant. Dig a hole as deep as the pot the plant came in and gently insert the mini vegetable plant. Secure the plant by moving the soil back around the plant.

• Water: Watering your vegetable patch depends on many variables, including the temperature that day, whether your vegetables are growing in a garden bed or pot, and when it rained last. On most summer days, your patch or pot will need to be watered daily. Inspect the soil to make sure it doesn’t look dry.

• Patience: Now starts the waiting game. Your hard work will pay off. Within a few weeks you’ll start seeing action in your garden!

With summertime easing in, this blessed time of year brings with it the perfect opportunity to get planting. Take the plunge, seeds in hand, and see what this tranquilizing, sensory experience does for you. Very soon, you and your family will get to enjoy the fruits of your labor, in vibrant salads and nourishing soups, all from your labor of love. But best of all, you’ll realize how nourishing the plants nourishes your own spirit and helps you connect with nature and with yourself, enabling you to revel in the beauty of Hashem’s wondrous world.