Patti Moreno The Garden Girl - Her Urban Garden, Her TV show, She's in Full bloom!

Patti Moreno "The GardenGirl" lives in
a concrete metropolis but in her
backyard she manages to grow enough
crops to eat, sell, share with her
neighbors and enough for her chickens
to feed on too. The GardenGirl lives a
very “green” lifestyle and hosts a show
on PBS called Farmer’s Almanac TV
where she talks about “Urban
Sustainable Living”.

So what did you do on Earth day?
I was cleaning up a bit in the yard. The
weather is going to be nice and stuff will really
start growing.

A silly question to ask someone who lives
“green” everyday. But the rest of us on Earth
Day think of ways to help our Earth be
greener. She candidly admits her “not so
green” moments.
What I really have a problem with is plastic
bags. Such a waste! But I always seem to
forget to bring my own bag. So instead of
bagging my groceries, I put them back in the
shopping cart and unload them from there
into the car. It is a hassle but maybe that will
make me remember to bring my own bag.

“The GardenGirl”, grew up in New York City
and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts.
How did she become this earthy, let-me-grow-
my-own-vegetables type-of-gal?
After the birth of my daughter. I gained 70
pounds and as I started gardening and
harvesting my yard, I started losing the weight.

How did she even learn to do all this, since
she grew up in the city?
Trial and error. A lot of dead plants! I read a
whole lot of books and just learned as I went.

How does she grow anything in a concrete
jungle, anyway?
Roxbury is like saying Brooklyn or Queens to
New York City. I have a back yard. It’s not so
big, about ¾ of an acre. I make the most of it.

What about the weather? Because I may not
know about gardening but I know Boston is
cold- colder than where I’m at in New York.
I use different techniques to extend the growth
period. I use raised beds which is like
creating micro-planets, like mini-
greenhouses that heat things up a little. I grow
hardier crops like herbs and lettuce that can
withstand cooler climates. But it is the raised
beds that really control the temperature a bit. I
built them and cover them with this thick type
of plastic-like material…

I’m clueless enough about crops but
carpentry? She used words like “easy” and
"simple” and “flexible”, but I’m still trying to get
to the question that I really want to know. How
do you have chickens in Boston???
You know in New York, even in fact in many
places chickens are totally legal. And
chickens are really the secret to an amazing
garden. Everything in my Urban Sustainable
Lifestyle has double duty. Chickens are useful
for fertilizer. Chicken poop is awesome! And
when they poop they scratch the soil so that
helps to toil the soil. They lay an egg every
single day. So I have fresh eggs everyday. I
also feed my chickens, not just corn but grass
and flaxseed, which contains omega-3. You
know in the supermarket when you see eggs
marked “organic omega-3 eggs”? Well, that’s
what I have at home – for free!

First, I didn’t know chickens ate corn. Not too
sure what a flax-seed is. And omega-3? I
thought was a name brand. If I wanted to get a
chicken how, where, I mean, is there a place
to buy them? Do I need a license?
You can buy them right online. The chickens
are shipped straight to your post office. The
post office will contact you to pick up your
package. They will be baby chicks.

I’m still thinking “Kentucky Fried”, so I had to
ask, do you eat the chickens?
I raise chickens for the eggs and the garden.
They are like my pets. I raise a few chickens to
eat.

Now I’m thinking McChicken sandwiches. If
you were going to eat them- how do you… you
know… I remember going to the vivero and
the boiling hot water…
Yes. Well, that’s what I do.
Put them in boiling water?!!!!
No, no. I take them to the vivero and they…
OK, okay I got it! 'Nuff said.
If you’re interested I suggest that you start off
with bantam chickens they are smaller than a
regular chicken.

Like I know the size of a regular chicken. Is
she kidding? But what about starting my own
garden. How does one start because I’ m
going to tell you most people don’t have time
as it is. So if, not me, but someone, wanted to
start growing tomatoes, let’s say, how much of
a time commitment would that be?
If you want to plant one thing, like tomatoes
that would take you about 45 seconds a day.
All you have to do is water them. Remember
to water them, that’s all. I suggest that if you
want to start gardening
-1 Start off small. On a window sill, a fire
escape, wherever.
-2 Get your whole family involved. Start by
asking what do you like to eat. Make each
person responsible for that vegetable or herb.
-3 Choose something that does not require a
lot of water or space. For example lettuce. In a
month it will totally grow. Herbs too you can
immediately begin to use them. If you like
sofrito grow cilantro, onions, peppers.

Listen not one person can grow all of the food
they need. But maybe if you can grow just your
own salad. Imagine all those miles that the
trucks have to travel to deliver that lettuce, the
gas it takes, the mileage. All that waste, really-
when you can grow it yourself on a window or
balcony. You don’t need a green thumb
necessarily and it doesn’t take that much
time. Less time than walking your dog, that’s
for sure.

Talking about animals again, Ms GardenGirl,
is it true you have goats?
Yes and they are awesome! They will eat just
about anything! And they are no bigger than a
medium sized dog! They totally should be
used in the city. They would clean up any park
or vacant lot because they eat anything and
everything.

But again, don’t they get cold?
No think about their natural habitat. They live
in the mountains.

They do? News to me!
And the chickens – think about pigeons. Do
they get cold? Don’t you see them in the
winter?

Finally something I could relate to- pigeons!
My uncle used to raise pigeons on the roof!

Just hearing myself say that made me
think how “city” I really am! Don’t hardly
know what a chicken looks like. Never
seen lettuce grow. Goats live on
mountains? I’ve only seen oregano in
little pieces. Maybe I should grow a little
something. I do have that sunny
window…