The plantable space available to Martha and me near our apartment is limited  to a 8×20″ window planter in which we raise a jumble of herbs every summer and fall (last year we also tried small pots with tomatoes on other windowsills, but they jumped to their death in a windstorm). This is hardly enough dirt time to satisfy a couple of hip young urbanites such as ourselves. Happily, Common Roots Café stepped in — this year and last — with the opportunity to help plant and maintain the beautiful garden located behind their restaurant. And so it was last night that I donned my nearest imitation of farmer clothes and dug in the dirt, mixing fresh compost into the old soil and planting the plugs and seeds that will grow into Common Roots’ bountiful summer garden.

Normally, I might express a little cynicism about volunteering for a for-profit business, but Common Roots is a great asset to our neighborhood and city, and in springtime I’m so desperate to garden that I’d practically pay for the pleasure. Besides, the array of spreads and veggies provided for volunteer snacking privileges is more than worth the price of admission (that price being getting your hands a little dirty).

If last year is any indication, there should be many more opportunities to help out with the Common Roots Garden. We usually find out about the opportunities on Twitter. (You can also follow marthaandtom.)

We’ve enjoyed an unusually mild March with no snow fall—something that hasn’t occurred in Minnesota since 1878. Tom and I have been taking advantage of the weather with bike rides, after dinner walks, patio happy hours, and Bell’s Oberon (released this week!). The coming of spring has another thing on our minds as well: the opening of the Midtown Farmers Market on May 1. On the home farming front, Tom wanted to start the herb [window] garden, but it turns out, in spite of the glorious weather, herb plants won’t be available in gardening stores till late April. Try telling that to our chives, who have valiantly pushed their way up from parched soil to herald the spring.

If you have a long weekend ahead of you, enjoy it!

As I’ll be stuck at work this afternoon, I decided to volunteer on my own this morning to get started on what Common Roots is calling the final harvest. Details below.

It’s been a great season for the Common Roots garden. The garden has already provided 1300 pounds of produce! Frost is predicted soon, so TODAY between 2:30 and 5:30 Common Roots will be harvesting most of what’s left, planting the boulevard strip on Aldrich Ave, and doing some weeding.

Danny would be happy to have as many hands as possible. If you’re interested in helping out, follow Common Roots on Twitter and give a tweet that you’d like to lend a hand, or email info (at) commonrootscafe (dot) com.

Common Roots Cafe
2558 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55405
(612) 871-2360

Update: “today” above refers to Thursday, October 8, 2009. If you are interested in volunteering in the future, feel free to contact the address mentioned.

The worst part about living an apartment is that we can’t garden (the best part is never having to mow a lawn or shovel a driveway). Sure, we can put a box or pot in the window that will yield a pepper or a little bundle of herbs, but it’s nothing compared to what even the smallest yard will produce with modest effort. Luckily, at this time of year our home-owning friends are starting to get overwhelmed by the bounty of their gardens — a combination of guilt in wasting a single hard-won veggie and the feeling that if one eats another eggplant that’s it for them — and Tom and I can swoop in to reap the benefits save the day. And so it was that Friday after work Tom and I raided my friend Alan’s garden while Alan was away at work and his dogs safely locked up inside the house.

Alan grows long, thin Japanese cucumbers, a variety of tomatoes, and many other types of vegetables and herbs. Along the side of his house he’s created a system of trusses to support a high density of tomatoes and peppers, using strings and posts to support the plants. In the back, he has another garden along the fence where cucumbers share space with onions, celery, beets, greens, and more. Looking at it all we were amazed with what can be grown in a well-planned, small space.

Not wanting to take more than our share (though Alan would certainly have encouraged more on us had he been there), we gathered a bowlful of black cherry tomatoes, three cucumbers, and a sampling of tiny peppers and basil. Tom put together a Greek salad with the cucumbers and tomatoes — and mint and oregano from our own window box. Thanks Alan!

For the salad, combine the following in a large bowl:

• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Cucumbers, peeled and sliced
• Greek Feta cheese, crumbled by hand
• 1 large shallot, sliced
• 2 sprigs fresh mint, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh oregano, finely chopped

For the dressing:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sumac
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Whisk the dressing and taste for seasoning. Pour over the salad and toss.

I’m thinking of taking advantage of this end-of-summer sale at Chiasso to get a hanging planter for our dining room. At half their original price, this is a deal I thought I’d share.

Not all hanging pots are meant to be used inside, so I was most excited to find these planters are indoor-friendly. I’m hoping that means when I water the spider plant (now living in a small bowl) it won’t drip down onto our hardwood floors.

Image: Chiasso

Besides all of the edible treasures from today’s trip to the Midtown Farmers’ Market, we also took home a small group of succulent cuttings ($2.00). I thought I recognized the plant from my new (old) book, Plants for the Home, purchased at a thrift store for just $0.69. Of the succulents for sale, this was one of the few the woman selling them couldn’t identify. I told her I was pretty certain it was a Burro’s Tail (Sedum morganianum). She kindly wrapped it in newspaper so that the little guy would survive our bike ride home. After some looking around on the internets, I have decided this is most likely a Peperomia columella or Pearly Column and *not* a Sedum morganianum. I’m more than a little disappointed it’s not a Burro’s Tail, which is clearly more fun sounding… but it’s still pretty and will probably grow into long braids one day with proper care. Have you grown either in your home?

Last year Tom decided he’d like to start an herb garden on one of our window sills (After my agreement, this went into the grocery budget!). Living in a older brick building, we have the luxury of having large areas outside of every window on which to place planters. It’s true we have a northern exposure, but we have to be thankful for what we have, people. Since we had such a great summer of rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, peppermint, and oregano in 2008, this year, we decided to continue the garden.

As in ’08, we headed for Mother Earth Gardens, where we originally purchased our window box and plants last year:

At Mother Earth Gardens we strive to provide you with beautiful plants and products, but a central part of our mission is also to choose plants and products that have been grown, produced and delivered in a sustainable manner. We talk about the following words in our buying and decision-making: organic, sustainable, local, family, independently and cooperatively owned.

Luckily, tarragon is an perennial. It came back all on its own:

On May 3 we planted (or replanted, the case of the tarragon pictured above):

• Oregano
• Spearmint *new*
• Thyme
• Sage
• Chives *new*
• Rosemary
• Tarragon

As of Wednesday, it will be 1 month since planting. I hope to be able to plot our herbs’ progress as the season goes on so that we can both have a record of their growth and share it with you. And, of course, expect to see [Tom's] entries on how we use the herbs in our kitchen.

Finally, I wanted to share a project from the weekend. Below are my newly acquired pots from my favorite Swedish store with extras from the work at Common Roots. We’re now officially out of soil, so I think this will be it for the season. Given that, I’m hoping these two bell peppers and a small crop of tomatillos will produce fruit. Tom, the doubter, isn’t sure we have the sun required. We’ll see. The first victory is that it is possible to water the plants *without* removing the screen (as long as the watering can is full enough).