Food & Wine USA - (02)February 2021

FEBRUARY 2021 81

Grow the Garden

A joyful routine, tending a garden keeps you grounded in the seasons

and offers the chance to get to know your food intimately. Keep plants

healthy with great nutrients and the right tools and techniques.

9. Find a balance: Once
   the garden is established,
   keep it healthy with the
   right mix of nutrients.
   Test the soil once a
   month to check for mac-
   ronutrients and a neutral
   pH. Use an at-home kit
   for instant results (NPK
   Test Kit, $20, gardeners.
   co m).


10. Feed the soil: Feed
    regularly to correct
    nutrient imbalances
    with Neptune’s Harvest

Fish-Seaweed Fertilizer

(from $34, neptunes

harvest.com). “I have

been using this for years;

it is my go-to fertilizer for

when plants need a pick-

me-up,” Gasbarra says.

11. Tools of the trade:
    You only need a few tools,
    so invest in good ones.
    Every gardener needs a
    hori hori, which is a type
    of digging knife, and a
    trowel, like the hand-
    forged ones from Red Pig

Garden Tools (fro m $3 5 ,

redpigtools.com).

12. Harvest helpers:
    Snip stems and sprigs
    with sharp garden
    shears, like the Tajika
    Branch and Root Shears,
    made by artisans in
    Japan ($120, nalata
    nalata.com). Have a shal-
    low basket, like a Wooden
    Garden Trug, ready to
    cradle freshly picked
    produce (fro m $74 ,
    gardenartisans.com).

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