Otherwise, they might have to hire a bunch of child laborers to do it. Photo, circa 1910, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

If you’re logging all your leisure hours at the community garden and plants now take up more space in your living room than furniture, this gig may be for you. The NYC Parks Department needs a new gardener. For an annual salary $36,602-$52,680 a year, said individual will: (more…)

Fire-escape pepper photo by Urban Greenscaper. Click on it for lots more inspiration.

Read the rest of the installments in our four-part series on urban vegetable gardening: seeds, soil and putting it all together.

We know, we know… you probably don’t think you have the space or the know-how to grow a measly sprout, let alone the ingredients for a salad. And you might be right. But growing food in tight, urban quarters is not only possible, it’s easier than you might expect. Gardening experts estimate that every square foot of growing space yields almost a pound of food over the course of the growing season. That’s a sizable crop squeezed from even the most meager Park Slope patch of dirt. And if a Crown Heights fire escape is your whole domain, that’s at least a crudité. Here’s how to begin. (more…)