A Tiny Garden Above the City

By Allan Ishac, founder of www.findpeaceandquiet.com

I am so lucky. My apartment in New York City has a small terrace. It is not larger than 10" x 6," but that is space enough to plant a garden. I searched the internet for someone who could make wonderful, sturdy window boxes for me out of sustainable wood. deeper greeN was my choice and it was the right one.

"Debra kept me apprised during the construction of the boxes (photos) and when they were built to my exact specs, she shipped them across the country at a good price and they arrived in perfect condition."

The window boxes are a cornerstone of my terrace garden in NYC, my tiny oasis high above Greenwich Village, where I grow ornamental blooms like marigolds, pansies, morning glories and zinnias in terra cotta pots and flower boxes. Cuttings sit on my dining table throughout the summer and most of the fall. My plants are happy, so I am happy.

I have a fat, fragrant pot of basil from which I harvest aromatic leaves for the kitchen. There are chives, rosemary and thyme on the porch, too, and this year I placed some cascading potato vine in some small window boxes because I liked the color. I didn't even realize I'd get potatoes. In mid-October I harvested a half-dozen red-skinned tubers and now I'm trying to determine if they are edible. I can certainly use them for cultivating new vines next year.

I get out to my terrace garden every day, three seasons a year. I talk to the growing things, it's true. And by swaying, rustling and swishing, they talk back. My chair sits low to the pots so I'm at bloom height, face to face with bursting roses and daisies. It's always a happy quiet time for me.

Soon I'll be emptying my window boxes and flower pots, saying goodbye to my lovely, fruitful garden until next year. I hope spring comes quickly, because as the Chinese proverb says, "One who plants a garden, plants happiness.