Starting a vegetable garden takes more love than money, and in a time when Covid-19 is making us rethink how we consume, it makes perfect sense

In times of uncertainty, there always seems to be a spike in sales of cookery and DIY books, my bookseller and publisher friends happily tell me.

The last spike in major book sales occurred around the GFC a decade ago. Did you notice the resurgence in fermenting, canning and knitting? Homesteading became cool again. Years before that, Victory gardens strengthened communities during and post-second world war and were the reason that many did not go hungry.

When thrown into turmoil, we are forced to re-examine how we live, and our consumption choices. I started trying to grow what I eat 10 years ago, and by the time we moved out of our little three-storey walk-up apartment and on to the farm, our balcony was full of food. We had a lemon tree, all the soft herbs I like to cook with, salad leaves, sweet and savoury fruit, and flowers too. I’m pretty sure my balcony garden fed all the neighbourhood’s birds and pollinators (and the occasional possum).

Palisa Anderson’s daughter plays on her old balcony garden. Photograph: Palisa Anderson

While you might not go that far, now that you have all this time at home here is my suggestion: look around you and find the spaces that could be filled with food: lawns, verges, community gardens, the end of the cul-de-sac; and if you live in an apartment, a shared communal area – they all work. Appeal to your strata or council to allow you to put in a little raised bed, and if there isn’t space nearby, your balcony or window sill will do.

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Once you’ve located your space, monitor how the sun tracks in that area for a day or two, and think of your mediums. Are you going to make a raised bed? Have pots or plant along borders? You don’t even need to be fancy about it; growing things in styrofoam boxes with drain holes punched in the bottom is perfectly acceptable.

These two elements will give you an idea of what you are able to grow successfully. Then you can find out all sorts of advice and information from gardening websites, and I highly recommend the gardening book One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein, who details all the possibilities of a little garden. One golden tip – that took me ages to realise – is that most herbs and vegetables actually have a shallow root system, so don’t go overboard with making a deep bed or wasting too much soil and mulch.

Most hardware stores are still in full operation and offer home delivery to those who cannot venture out. This is where you can find most of the things you will need to set up your little food haven.

Buy only the minimum, and look around you for the resources you may already have. Gardening success does not rely on fancy tools (an old spoon works very well in place of a hand trowel), but you should certainly find the best option for organic compost and dynamic lifter to start off with.

Next comes the really fun bit: seed catalogues! I like Diggers, 4 Seasons Seeds, Green Harvest, Herb Cottage and the Italian Gardener – and there are many others out there. To shop for seeds is to fall down a rabbit hole. When you emerge, your view of conventional supermarket produce will change forever. The superabundance of selections – so many varieties you’ve never even heard of – can be overwhelming, so my suggestion is to examine your and your household’s diet first.

What do you like to eat? How do you cook? Keep in mind the season too. I’ve included below a few things I’m excited to grow for winter.

Reconnecting to nature by means of a little gardening is a tremendous balm for these peculiar times

The final tip I will give is that you have “patience and a cool hand” (which is a Thai expression similar to having a green thumb). Think of playing like a little kid in the garden. Kids are sometimes the best at sowing seeds because they don’t try too hard at making sure the seeds are deeply tucked in. They grow by accident, casually strewing seeds around – just like a bird! That and talking to your plants. They are very good listeners.

Reconnecting to nature by means of a little gardening is a tremendous balm for these peculiar times. Since we are unable to take off travelling in the near future anyhow, it is apt to put down a few roots. To go to ground, literally. You may be surprised at just at how much you’ll fall in love with eating the produce you’ve had a hand in creating.



If you don’t have much light, or space

Grow: Pennywort, parsley, mint and Chinese celery

These plants don’t need much light to photosynthesise due to their broader leaves. They are all excellent, nutrient-dense herbs and are also a tasty addition to any meal.

Honourable mentions: Cavolo nero, Chinese broccoli and most lettuces

These plants don’t mind growing upwards, provided they have a little space between them. Compared with other brassicas like cabbages and broccoli, they require a shorter growing period before being harvested. If you harvest them well, they will keep providing for you over the winter and well into spring.

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If you’re putting a styrofoam box on a balcony

Grow: snow peas, sugar snaps or any pea you like to eat

I used to grow so many of my legumes in a styrofoam box, as they don’t need much space between the plants, and a packet of snow peas will be able to sufficiently provide a family of four through the season.

Honourable mentions: Strawberries

These are a delight, as from the first year of planting, your mother plant you will get fruit. Perhaps not a massive yield, but walking into your little garden to see the flowers then the fruit emerge is a heart-melting moment. Then the aroma of eating that first strawberry from a plant you tended will be enough to keep to growing them for life.

If you’re digging a garden bed

Put in everything! GO NUTS! Don’t forget that plants have different growing tendencies – some need trellising, some like to grow laterally and some are very effective ground covers. Make sure to mulch well between seedlings.



Honourable mentions: Growing a tree

If you can manage more than multiple beds, grow trees, though make sure the beds are deeper as trees have a deeper rooting system. As my friend Leon Fink of the Fink Hospitality Group once said to me: “Palisa, growing trees is the ultimate sign of hope.” He is spot on.

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