I Failed at Growing Food for Humans, So I Grew It for the Bees Instead
As I tended to native flowers on my fire escape, I discovered there’s a lot more to love about urban wildlife than squirrels.
By Lela Nargi
Modern Farmer
June 29, 2022
Excerpt:
My decision to grow native flowers to support local pollinators might smack of self-righteous ecological do-good-erism. But the truth is, it was born of bad luck and incompetence.
Operating under the misconception that any urban apartment dweller could conjure up something to eat in a patch of outdoors and wild with optimism, several springs ago, I planted cherry tomatoes and peppers on my Brooklyn fire escape. I was thrilled as they thrived and flowered. But one morning I woke to catastrophe: They’d all been devoured by squirrels.
The next year, the squirrels came for half the lettuces I seeded in window boxes; the other half I killed outright by forgetting to water them. Feeding humans with fire escape produce was feeling increasingly like a losing proposition, so I aimed lower. That third spring, I put out thyme and tarragon and nasturtiums, thinking I could at least grow treats to offer my pet rabbits. A heatwave hit while I was out of town and clobbered them all.
