Porch Gardening 2009

A month-to-month renter can uproot at any time, whether the layoffs finally come or neighborhood crime forces the renter’s hand.

Uprooting a garden prove more treacherous, and most likely fatal to its occupants.

But this year, I can’t escape the green thumb.

Blame goes to the basil. A free basil plant from work flourished all summer; basil chicken and salmon made the menu weekly. I brought the basil indoors eight months ago to test its ability to thrive away from the elements. The plant produced enough fragrant leaves to keep me from overpaying for herbs at the grocery.

But it didn’t thrive – two weeks ago it looked all but dead. Then a spring of green punched through the woody husk, giving it hope for a new season of basil-topped dishes and pesto sauce.

Yesterday the basil went back outside, to join the cilantro, Greek oregano and Italian parsley, with pair of tomato plants to tower above all.

I plan to add rosemary, sage and possibly the cinnamon basil I forgot the grab Sunday. Those will need pots I don't have right now.

I know what the basil will do, and cross my fingers with everything else.

By all accounts, Nashville is as king to cilantro as it is to allergy sufferers. So I don’t expect a bumper crop. Percy didn’t help, immediately trying to chew off a sprout from the pot. Overall, I don’t expect much trouble for him – the pots provide him with camouflage to pounce at birds in the yard.

The tomato plant is the most intriguing. Everyone I know who plants a row of tomato plants ends up with bushels they cannot use, but two plants in a pot should give me enough for salads, sandwiches and new recipes.

While small, this impromptu garden has a high chance of failure. Without Nashville's maddeningly inconsistent weather, these sprouts face a season of unknowns - aside from weeks of 90-degree temperatures.

But if I have to go, I expect to rest to have the strength to travel along.