A Passion for Growing Food in Philadelphia

We chat with Millennial gardener Ross Raddi in Philadelphia. He balances a very intensive approach to food gardening with the need to share the yard with his family—who want grass.

Raddi has previously joined us on the Food Garden Life Show to talk about his passion for growing fruit, and about his passion for growing figs. He goes by the nickname “Fig Boss.”

Intensive Suburban Food Garden

Raddi finds that vertical gardening is an important part of maximizing his use of space. “Grow everything vertically if you can,” he advises new gardeners.

He grows one tomato plant per square foot—and trains them upwards, pinching back to a single main stem.

“I think there’s a big misconception out there that you need a big yard to have a lot of food.”

He believes that a food garden can be attractive too. His favourite ornamental-edible combination is blueberries, persimmon, and strawberries. He says that together they creates a bed that is “stunning.”

“Those are some of the most ornamental plants that fruit!”

The Garden in 2020

Raddi says his garden got off to a slow start in 2020, but it caught up and is now ahead of where it would normally be.

This year he’s growing patty pan summer squash as a substitute for bell peppers. He would normally use bell peppers in the kitchen for stuffing—but the summer squash work well for stuffing—and give a much larger yield.

“They gave me so much more food than a pepper would.”

He is trying lots of new crops in the his fall garden, which he has now started to plant.

“When I first started, it [a garden to harvest in the fall] was a foreign concept.”

Tomato Patch

Raddi and Emma trade tomato recommendations.

Looking Ahead

Next year Raddi plants to grow at a local community garden as well as his own yard.

He will be one of the younger gardeners: The mothers of two close friends garden at the community garden. He says his friends laugh when he tells them, “Guys, I’m going to garden with your moms.”