How to turn your Philly rowhouse backyard into a vegetable garden on the cheap
Cynthia Greer / Cynthia Greer / Staff Artist
Even if you only have a cramped, cement backyard to work with, you can grow vegetables. Here’s how to do it.
By Grace Dickinson
Philadelphia Inquirer
Mar 16, 2021
Excerpt:
Five years ago, Nicole Enders and her husband bought their first home on a quiet, tree-less block in South Philly. While their street lacked greenery, just behind their kitchen lay an enclave brimming with plant potential — a 170-square-foot back “yard.” Enders considered it one of the rowhouse’s biggest selling points.
“It was just a cement patio with cinder block walls. But I immediately envisioned vining plants growing up those walls,” says Enders. “Now they’re filled with cucumbers every summer.”
In the spring, before the cucumber vines begin to fruit, Enders’ patio flourishes with buttery lettuces, hearty Red Russian kale, bushy sugar snap peas, fragrant rosemary, and other herbs and produce, mostly rooted in raised beds. About a quarter of her patio is devoted to gardening. It’s a small but lush escape away from summers in the city, says Enders, who today helps others transform their rowhouse yards into gardens, too.
The owner of Philadelphia Box Gardens, Enders specializes in planning and installing edible gardens in small urban spaces. And she’s shared a guide for starting your own, including how to build a raised bed, grow within it, and make your rowhouse garden thrive. The material costs generally clock in under $150 for a bed that’ll last for years to come.
