Garden Apartment in Harlem, New York

Wow! Check out this email {and all the juicy photos I received from Holly in Harlem, New York!

Hi Mavis!

I have been reading your blog since late winter/early spring of this year and I just love it. My husband Max (I call him Massimo!) and I bought our apartment in Harlem in NYC last summer. We live in 700 square feet, but the best part of the apartment is the deck out back that’s all ours! This was pretty much the selling point for the unit, and we LOVE it.

We’ve been in NYC 8 and 10 years respectively, and had never had outdoor space before or room for any gardens.  I spent all winter researching gardening and we have had a great first year trying it, with mixed success – I like to call it square inch gardening, as opposed to square foot gardening 🙂  I blog about it and cooking/DIYing/decorating at southernharlem.com.  I am a fellow couponer so I love your money-saving tips and tricks!

I also started some basil indoors from seed on a window sill using pots and plastic bags with holes punched in them.  This worked ok but the plants were leggy – I think they really didn’t get enough light. I think next year I want to turn our dining area into a seed starting area with grow lights in the spring if I can get Massimo on board. Of course, this is a hard sell when you live in 700 sq ft. since then we’ll just have to eat dinner in the bed (or outside, but in March that’s not so appealing..)

Massimo built the pallet planter himself with a pallet a neighbor found and brought home for us on the subway (great neighbor!).  We used gutters to line it and drilled holes in them for drainage.He also built some of the planters (the one with the herbs in it, for example).  Next year we want to build planters all along the top of the wall surrounding the deck and also hang gutters on the walls for more planting space (at least one of us wants to..).

We also have to leave room for actually using the deck, as Massimo likes to remind me.  I grew up on a farm in North Carolina, and I never really knew I had the farming gene in me until we got started here. Now I dream of raising a 4-H pig in my back “yard” and having a few chickens. Sadly, I don’t think our neighbors would go for that.

We signed Max’s parents up for a CSA in the winter and get their leftovers/get their shipments when they’re out of town and LOVE that as a way for urbanites to access fresh local produce.  In addition to our deck, we take great pride in our window boxes since all our neighbors see them.

We also planted around the trees on our block, which has greatly cut back on the amount of litter. Our dog Murphy likes to help us – she actually eats potting mix with seedlings in it (got a good amount of our chives) – what’s with that?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and providing a great platform for ideas.

Keep on being green,
Holly

18 Amazing Garden Boxes from New York

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

~Mavis

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.