Taking Over the Front Stoop

Let the Gardening Begin!

Once I started dreaming of having my miniature veggie garden on my front stoop, I immediately began searching what vegetables grow best in the shade. There are tons of lists out there such as this one, 26 Vegetables to Grow in the Shade, from Rural Sprout.

If I’m honest, I was hoping to avoid too many salad greens, which happen to grow really well in the shade. Salad and I have a love-hate relationship because 17 years ago when I became vegan, salad was all anyone knew what to feed me…so back then I ate my full! But Krista convinced me that eating them pulled out of my own garden would make a difference. And I probably should be eating more leafy greens anyways.

What We’re Planting

Kale–in total transparency, this will likely be made into chips, not salad.
Butter Lettuce–this can be cut off above the soil and regrown throughout the season.
Cucumbers–I will be attempting to grow this up a trellis along the wall.
Radishes–these can be planted multiple times through the season too. We ran out of seeds, so now I’m on the hunt for some to plant
Basil–this was a last minute addition as I had propagated a basil cut off from my indoor plant and decided to try and plant it on the stoop.
Tomatoes–these were originally for my sunnier windowsill, but the plant pot was too big, so now they are taking up space on the stoop with my neighbour’s permission.

Where I’m Planting

As I’ve mentioned before, gardening in my rental is challenging due to a lack of space, but I’m motivated to be a little more self sustainable with respects to food. For this mini garden, we are taking over my front stoop. The space I have at my front door is small to say the least. Krista and I tasked her husband to build a planter to fit my space and he did a fantastic job!

Planting Instructions

I was given the task of planting everything in the planter. I really don’t know what I’m doing, so it’s a little bit of hoping-for-the-best! To plant each of the little plants, I dug a little hole, then I broke up the roots before placing them in the planter. For the cucumbers, there were two little sprouts, so I broke one off to help the plant grow. After getting them in the soil, I gave the plants a good water.

Keeping the Plants Alive

Social distancing had my plants a little behind schedule. Krista started them out at her home, but now that they are here, I have to figure out how to keep them alive!

Watering instructions: My instructions were to keep the soil damp. As the plants are under cover, they won’t be getting any rain. This means that I’ll be checking the plants every couple days–or daily if it gets hot–to make sure the soil is damp.