By Canny Cahn
A recent trip to southern Italy taught me several valuable lessons about gardening in a changing climate.
Contrary to my predispositions about the farmlands of Puglia – the land that forms Italy’s boot – most people do not have lush gardens. In fact, the majority of its population centers around the region’s coastlines and old interior villages, most of which are crowded (by Maine standards) and hardscaped.The old homes are lovely; the newer constructions tend toward blocky condo structures.
Given the tremendous heat the area now suffers in the summer, complicated by a bacteria-born blight that wiped out 80% of Puglia’s famed centuries-old olive trees, this part of Italy is starved for sustainable agriculture beyond its monster artichoke, pepper, and tomato crops. Anything that requires intensive watering has become expensive in the markets, straining the average consumers’ already tight budgets.
But self-reliant Italians won’t give up their produce without a fight. They’ve learned to collect water through simple engineering, build planting spaces over their walkways, and grow vertically to conserve space. We can borrow their ideas relatively easily. Water collection in southern Italy has long been part of that area’s history.
Our 21st century gutters are easily adaptable to the same concept. Last year I placed sturdy trash cans under three downspouts around my home in spots that don’t offend the eye. A handy dipping bucket gives me easy access to moisture and spares me the job of dragging hoses around.If you’re worried about mosquitoes, a bit of common flea powder will clobber larvae. When I have them, I keep a few baby comet fish from my ponds in these cans; the babies chow down on the insects and “graduate” back to my larger ponds at the end of the growing season. Whatever your collection method, just remember to turn your cans upside down so they don’t freeze and crack in the winter.
Growing in/on hardscape is a bit more challenging. Most of the homes in Italy’s historic sections I visited on this trip were lined with planters that mixed heat-resistant flowers with a broad variety of vegetable plantings. In February – early spring in Puglia –I saw starts of greens and mounds of culinary herbs.Vining crops like tomatoes would soon be hanging in pots; broad beans in long planters were already two-feet high against the walls not just of elegant baroque homes, but also restaurants, shops, and even a gas station. Many people meshed white lights over their entranceway plantings for nighttime decoration.
PHOTOS OF ENTRANCEWAY PLANTINGS
Small plantings eliminate that most dreaded of chores: weeding. Southern Italy is overrun with wild buttercups, mint, anise, and oregano, all of which are charming in small doses, but are relentless in the fields.Though these nuisances can and do push their way into planters, vigilant grooming and spot watering take minutes, not hours.
Plan ahead. How much of what you grow can do double duty by expanding your outdoor décor and your diet? Where might an empty piece of wall be transformed into an eye-catching spot for vertical growing? Both sun and shade can nurture edibles while adding beauty to a bare spot. Space conservation and the clever use of containers can create their own unique chemistry: high impact and low input = easy, responsible gardening.
Canny Cahn is a member of GCW and
Chairs the GCW Mentorship Program.
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