Don’t Overthink Gardening

So many of my friends are what I’d call “garden curious.” The dream is simple: ample backyard space where they can grow their own food, compost, and live out their most cherished ideas for a greener life. The reality: Time and space are limited.

But no one needs to wait for the perfect conditions to grow something. In my own experience with Lazy-Girl Gardening, I’ve seen the best results when I’ve embraced low-stakes experiments focused on food I love. I have grown tomatoes, peppers, lettuce greens, and herbs in my apartment; today, lemon-balm and mint plants I started from seed adorn my kitchen windowsill, and for the past two summers, I have grown sungold tomatoes in containers on the sliver of concrete I refer to as my “terrace.” Though it won’t bear fruit for the next five years, my pride and joy is a three-foot-tall plant I grew from a grocery-store avocado’s pit.

Growing vegetables at a modest scale allowed me to reduce the carbon emissions associated with my diet in a small but meaningful way. My plants have saved me a few trips to the grocery