As soon as I noticed Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces (yes you can) by Gayla Trail, I knew I had to interview the young lady.
Why? Because her book (published in February 2010 by Clarkson Potter) shows that anyone can do it even with limited space, she describes 'Grow Great Grub' as an 'essential encouraging guide'.
Why too? The book combines various threads that I've been following from edible gardens to eating local to cooking with fresh ingredients with the shear pleasure of picking and eating the fruit of your labor…
Here's what we talked about.
Q: Gayla, Do you see yourself as
part of the 'edible garden' wave?
A: I don’t know how to answer this question. I don’t see this as a
fad and it certainly isn’t for me.
Q: Are you keeping a family
tradition of growing things?
A: Sort-of. My roots are West Indian and specifically from Dominica
where historically people have a long, close, and complicated relationship with
the earth and growing food. In that
sense I believe that a certain amount of my deep, intense need to grow things
is genetic.
My grandmother grew plants but never spoke of it so when I began
it wasn’t because I was taught or encouraged by my elders. Yet I do see her as
my inspiration and example. She grew potatoes in a bucket on her balcony and I
think it planted the seed in my brain that I could have a garden and grow my
own food without the benefit of a yard, lots of space, or other traditional
trappings.
Q: Was your colder location
(Canada) instrumental in deciding to pay attention to growing small things
indoors?
A: Canada is a massive landmass—there are parts that are warmer than
many parts of the US and other parts that are much colder. It depends on where you are situated on that
massive landmass. I complain a lot through the winter because I am a wimp and
we do have a fairly cold winter here in Toronto, but it is only slightly colder
than New York City. We’ve experienced a
few anomalies recently, but our summers are actually very hot and humid. We can grow an awful lot here – the climate
isn’t that limiting. We’re not riding
around on dog sleds.
I actually grow far less indoors than I do outside simply because
I have less indoor space with good light. During the coldest parts of the winter I put my outdoor gardens to bed
and focus my attention to the indoors.
Q: Favorite thing to grow
on a window sill?
A: Micro-greens. I have a batch going right now. Although I also like my new scented
geraniums. One is already flowering.
Q: Favorite thing to grow
in a small plot?
A: Lettuce. There are so many different varieties and a large number
of them are absolutely stunning in their own right. They also grow quickly and don’t take up much
space.
Q: If you had to pick one thing to plant and harvest for each season which would they be?
A; This is tricky because some things are planted in spring for a
fall harvest. That said: Spring: peas.
Summer: tomatoes. Fall: mâche.
Q: Does the pleasure you
derive from micro=farming comes from smell, taste, proximity, sense of
achievement, self reliance?
reduce it down to one. There is also the
wonder of new discoveries, and the healing that comes from working my muscles,
looking at beautiful plants, and putting my hands in the soil.
Q: Besides what you grow,
favorite spots to go food shopping in your hometown?
A: Hands down the farmers markets. I go to the Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market most Thursdays year-round,
but during the summer I ride around on my bike and try to hit as many on my
side of town as possible. During the really productive times of the year I get
really excited to find out what the different farmers will bring and am
inspired to find new ways to use the produce or try growing it myself. I go a bit nuts canning.
Q: Any restaurant you
patronize?
A: Primarily places that are in my neighborhood because I am
inherently lazy and tend to stay within what I call “My Rectangle.” I like The Beaver because it is close by and
they have some excellent staples on the menu that never get boring. I often
have lunch at Café Bernate because the owners are friendly and have been in
this neighborhood since forever. I keep
hoping they’ll bring back the spinach soup that was so good I couldn’t resist
buying more to take home for later. That
was about 2 years ago. I still dream about that soup.
Q: I see you like basil
(making basil puree) and baking bread. Is there a dish you cook at
home that you would call your best or your greatest hit?
A: I make a really killer chawanmushi, a Japanese savory custard
that is steamed in a tea cup.
Q: From your writing, you
sound thrifty, is it by choice or necessity?
A: Both.
Q: Do you make a lot of
preserves?
A; Too many. Storage space is hard to come by.
Q: Mostly vegetables or fruits?
A: It’s probably pretty balanced overall. The spring is more about
fruit besides the pickled asparagus that I’m planning to make a yearly
tradition. I do a lot of vegetables in
the late summer and fall.
Q: How do you grow great
grub? Do you need good soil, light, water, good seeds, good plants or is it all
about patience and paying attention?
A: Soil: All gardens begin with the soil. It is first and foremost.
Light: The amount of direct sunlight your spot receives will
determine what you can grow.
Water: When it comes to water it’s about knowing your plants and
giving them the amount they need. It is also about how you apply the water. I
always suggest to beginners that they train themselves to water the soil, not
the leaves as a way to avoid diseases.
Good Seeds: Diseases and problems can be passed through seed so it
certainly matters. It helps to get your seed from quality growers who have a
passion for it and who put a lot of care and attention into the seed they
produce. It also depends on how one
defines “good” since there are political and environmental ramifications to
where your seeds come from.
Good Plants: You definitely want to avoid buying plants that are
sick to begin with.
Paying Attention: The act of gardening develops good observational
skills. Paying attention to our plants and watching for changes offers the
chance to catch some problems before they get out of hand as well as note what
works and do more of it.
Q: Would you say that
growing your own is like learning a foreign language or how to play an
instrument? Does it take time until you have your Eureka moment when you feel
that you know what you are doing?
A: I think it can be in the sense that becoming a good gardener is
about discipline and forming habit as well as just doing it. You become a
better gardener through the experience of gardening. In the gardening world there are protégés; we
call them “green thumbs.” I don’t believe in black thumbs and I think that the
intuitiveness that makes someone a green thumb can be developed through
experience since it primarily about cultivating good observational skills and
being willing to take risks and experiment.
One can never know everything there is to know about gardening –
it’s a lifelong learning process comprised of thousands of Eureka moments,
successes, and massive failures.
Gardeners don’t have any control over nature or the weather so they’ve
got to adapt to and just go with the flow of whatever happens every year. There’s no chance to suddenly reach a
pinnacle where everything is perfect and there is nothing left to learn. It’s both freeing and humbling and the reason
why gardening never gets old or boring.
Want to dig deeper before getting your hands dirty, Gayla (above) shares more gardening advice on You Grow Girl, her 10 year old child.
My apologies to our Canadian friends for my silly misconceptions on the weather up North. Gayla was kind enough to enlighten me.
Thanks to Gayla for her time and to Allison Malec at Clarkson Potter for making this interview possible.