Plot to Plate is a SAVEUR column in which features editor Alex Testere exercises his green thumb, sharing practical gardening tips and seasonal produce-driven recipes from his patch of earth in New York’s Hudson Valley. He is also the author and illustrator of Please Grow: Lessons on Thriving for Plants (and People).
Gardening, by nature, is not a pastime with swift rewards. If a trip to the farmers market is a cut-and-dried game of Go Fish, where the rules are clear and victory is simple, then growing your own produce is The Settlers of Catan, an afternoon-spanning exercise of shifting landscapes, variable resources, and tedious, long-haul strategy. Its perks come with patience, and thankfully, most of us are in it for the process just as much as we are for the harvest.
Playing the long game can be challenging; without knowing precisely when the rewards will come (or what shape they will take), it can be hard to find the motivation to do the work in the first place. It’s akin to trying to establish a daily workout routine, or setting aside money for retirement. On a much smaller scale, I feel it whenever it’s time to make a fresh jug of cold-brew coffee: My instinct-driven brain bristles at setting aside even 10 minutes of my day that won’t be paid back until later. But by the time I’ve poured myself that cup of iced coffee 24 hours later, the work that went into it is a
