Gardener of the Day: Peter Kelman

Last week, we posted a photo of a great little sidewalk garden, and lucky for us, the urban garden responsible for the plot saw it. Peter Kelman tends the small space on 17th Street, where yesterday he harvested several small red radishes, in addition to his backyard gardens/orchard, where he managed to grow a 3-foot, 8-inch cucuzza squash.

This neighbor with a very green thumb provided some tips on urban gardening, and tells us he is available to offer brief tours of his garden (contact info below), as well as, he says, "no end of suggestions for what you might do with limited space and sun."


Peter harvesting radishes from his sidewalk garden.

If someone has a tree pit, with or without a tree in it, in front of their home, what are some steps they can take to garden in that space? 

Peter Kelman: First I should say that, as far as I understand it, the city owns the tree pit and theoretically, could, at any time, plant a new tree in that space. But given that it took them almost two years and a bunch of phone calls from me to take down the dead tree that was in the spot, I'm fairly confident that unless someone on the block requests a new tree be planted there, it'll be a long time before they come to plant one. And, if they do, I hope they'll pant an appropriate tree and that they don't, as has been the case in the past, surround it with cinderblocks so it gets very little rain to its roots.

If you have a live tree in a pit, especially if it's surrounded by partially-buried cinderblocks, about the only thing you can grow under the tree are potted plants that need minimal direct sun from June on, by which time the trees is likely to be fully leafed out and providing significant shade. If you have an empty pit, as I had (once the dead tree was removed by the city), you should dig it up completely, removing all old tree roots, glass, stones, buried "treasures," dog poop, and the cinderblocks, if any.



Technically, I believe the city owns the cinderblocks so it might not be a good idea to throw or give them away. I used mine by knocking off the mortar and then turning them on end to construct a mostly symbolic wall around 3 sides of the pit. (I didn't build the wall on the street side, both because I didn't have enough cinderblock and because I was nervous about the wall bing knocked down by a street cleaning machine or snow plow. I asked my mason not to build the wall too close to the curb, but he went further than I'd hoped he would, so I am still concerned about it being knocked down, especially by a snow plow when the wall will be obscured by snow.

I then dug up and turned over the remaining "soil" to a depth of about a foot and a half and sifted an entire compost bin worth of seasoned compost into the pit, which I turned into the original "soil." Finally, I covered the entire pit with 4-6 inches of organic outdoor gardening soil that I bought at Shannon's. (I think it was 2 large bags worth). Finally, I planted my seeds, using the square-foor gardening/intensive method I've evolved over the years and watered whenever there was more than 3 days without some rainfall. (The keys to successful urban gardening are: reasonably rich soil, at least 10 hours of daylight, appropriate amounts of direct sunlight, and water, water, water. All of this requires more explanation than is possible here.)


Peter's wife Therese with the monstrous cucuzza squash.

Because the mason didn't get to building the wall until mid-August, I wasn't able to prepare the soil and plant seeds until August 23, which meant that I needed to plant fast-growing vegetables that grow well under late summer/fall conditions (cooler, less daylight, less hot direct sun, more rain). That's why I chose to plant radishes, beets, and small turnips. My plan is to harvest all of these by mid October and then experiment by planting fava beans, which I hope to take through winter (by covering the area with Remay gardening cloth, which will give it an extra 5-10 degrees of protection.

Then, depending on the maturity of the beans by May, I'll either harvest them (genuine fallafel, yum!) or dig them into the soil as nitrogen-fixing "green manure." In May, I intend to plant a decorative vegetable garden consisting of the Native American 3 Sisters: squash (which forms a moisture-conserving ground cover), beans (which are nitrogen-fixing vines), and corn (which requires lots of nitrogen and moisture and provides a stalk up which vines can grow). Because I am a little concerned about eating vegetables grown on the street, I may opt for decorative choices (gourds, scarlet runner beans, and indian corn) rather than their edible cousins.

All of which brings me to the question of: is it safe to eat vegetables grown on the street or, for that matter, in any Brooklyn soil? This is an interesting question on which one can find a huge range of opinions. So, let me start by stating one incontrovertible fact: almost all Brooklyn soil contains levels of lead and other heavy metals far in excess of government guidelines for growing food. Yes, there are things one can do to ameliorate the soil, but these take time and continuous testing and re-testing, something I am not interested in doing. But, also keep in mind that there it is less clear how much lead or other heavy metals are absorbed by various kinds of vegetables or how much of this is absorbed into the bloodstream. So, as an adult eater, I'm not all that concerned about the amount of lad that I might be eating from my garden vegetables and fruits. Nevertheless, I wouldn't fee my grandchildren too much food grown in my own Brooklyn garden. But that's just my opinion.

For your sidewalk vegetable garden, have you had more success with some vegetables over others?

This is only the second year I've gardened in the tree pit, although I have grown herbs and other vegetables in pots and boxes on my front stoop and other areas immediately around my house front. Last year, I had tremendous success growing basil in pots in the tree pit. I transplanted basil starts in mid-May, which produced all summer long. However, I was a bit concerned about the amount of street detritus and dog pee on the basil leaves. Of course, I thoroughly washed the basil, but still…. This year, having dug out the entire tree pit space, I decided to grow root vegetables, figuring less street contamination.  (See above for how I prepared the space.)


Peter and Therese's granddaughter Paloma with some veggies she picked in the backyard.

BTW, I think the sign ["Food Growing Here"] worked for dog owners, but  didn't keep out the local "hooligans"--after a week I found one pretty big footprint and a bunch of my row markers snapped off and stuck back in randomly. So, I then covered the pit with chicken wire, which so far seems to be working. It definitely keeps out birds and squirrels and I guess is just enough of a deterrent to let the "hooligans"  know that this really is someone's "property."

The location is very sunny in the mornings but shaded after noon, so you want plants that don't require a full day of direct sunlight.

If you'd like to learn more about Peter's gardens, or about making your own contact him by phone or email:
718-369-6934  phone & fax
718-986-7289 cell (try landline above first)
peter@educationworksconsulting.com