18.

We live in a duplex so our tiny city lot is subdivided into two even smaller portions. Our neighbours have the sun rich south facing back yard and we have the north facing front yard with a long walkway along the eastern side of the house that leads to our side of the shared garage in the back. We don't have a lot of space to garden.

The first thing we did when we moved in was dig up the whole right side of the front yard to make a little herb garden for a bay laurel tree, rosemary and sage bushes, basil, chives, green onions, thyme, sage and a small red currant bush, all planted in a traditional pattern and separated by stepping stones. This little area is my favourite part of the front yard. It gives us all the herbs I need year round and red currants for jam.

Along the front of the fence, Swiss chard and kale seedlings are already inches high, ready to feed us in the winter when fresh vegetables are sparse.

Along the east facing walkway leading to the garage Matt dug up and built two small plots. We plant one with beans in the spring, adding parsley in the summer and sowing mixed greens at the end of August. We nailed the back gate shut and dug up the walkway beside the garage to make a second, larger plot for tomato plants and radicchio. It's also where we keep our compost.

In this back plot my stepfather came and build a plastic cover to create a greenhouse, using the side of the garage and the fence as walls. When he came by the other day to visit he suggested we plant the tomatoes in the middle of the plot, but then, as they grow, train them along the ground until they reach the side of the garage. This enables the tomatoes to develop extra roots over the nutrient rich soil and to stay moist during the hot summer days, while the plants themselves are leaning up against the wall that has absorbed the day's heat, keeping the plant warm after the sun goes down and extending the growing days.

Usually August is all about tomatoes, but this spring was so cold and wet that ours were green throughout August. I've only just begun enjoying them in my salads the first week of September. To make up for our pathetic show, my mom brought me 20lbs of plum tomatoes from the Okanagan and we canned them together last weekend. Ananda is planning on bringing down another 20lbs this week just to make sure we make it through the winter.