My story
Patrick Vernuccio, The Frenchie Gardener, is a french author, facilitator and content creator on urban balcony gardening. He is sharing his deep passion for growing food in small urban spaces & educating +1,5 Million gardening enthusiasts on his social media accounts. Patrick is advocating to welcome back Nature into our cities and our lives, to recreate this essential connection with food, seasons & biodiversity. Certified of Permaculture, he is adapting its philosophy & techniques to seek for a more urban regenerative lifestyle.
I waited 36 years before planting my first seed & it changed my life!
I was born & raised in France, always lived in urban areas, such as Paris, Amsterdam & Berlin. Probably just like you, I did not know a lot about Nature, apart from some holy week-end escapes in the French countryside, from where my beloved grandparents really educated me to enjoy fresh, tasty & great organic food.
I was looking to buy some random flowers for my balcony & windows, as most people do late Spring, so I went to a Gardening Centre. At the entrance there was this huge shelf full of seeds filled with radishes, lettuce, tomatoes grasping my attention. I looked at them with envy but also doubts. Now that I have a small terrace in Amsterdam, I said to myself why not give it a try?
But I was also questioning myself, I had no predispositions to grow anything, nor the patience, I always labelled myself as “I don’t have a green thumb”. Never ever planted a seed in my whole life, my inner was already heading out towards future failures...How can I grow lettuce or radishes which anyway won’t be as beautiful & tasty compared to the ones I can find in grocery stores? Am I not going to just lose time & waste money?
But as a city dweller shopper, I had this buying impulse (for sure the best one I’ve ever had), so I got myself some soil, pots, seeds. Going back home, I found myself pretty ignorant as I did not know how or where to start. So I asked myself why are we not learning this at school? As humans, growing our own food should be a crucial part of the most basic education.
Right at the start, my intention was to grow fully organic and without any pesticides, why would I poison myself? After reading some basic online information, I gave it a try, and magic happened! A few days later, some of my lettuce seeds sprouted! These first little successes gave me the sufficient kick to keep on feeding my curiosity, trying to grow new varieties & learning about Nature through failures and successes.
Growing your own organic food is fully possible & accessible, because yes, we all have a green thumb, we just need to learn some easy basics.