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Netanya Sadoff
Guest
- Thread Author
- #1
Hello and welcome to Northern Gardener’s newest blog, Room to Grow! Here, I will be documenting my journey from gardening rookie to expert in a twice-monthly blog series.
I’m Netanya! I’m a twentysomething self-proclaimed “nature nerd” who’s spent the last year and some change as an intern with the Minnesota Horticulture Society. I am also a fresh grad from the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), where I majored in environmental science and minored in horticulture.
I have always been a creature of soil. When I was a kid, I adored helping my mom in the garden. I wasn’t allowed to play in the dirt, so getting my small, grubby hands covered in the stuff while weeding or harvesting carrots was always the next best thing. By the time I was seventeen, I had a local community garden plot, and was growing veggies on my own. To this day, nothing makes me feel more alive and connected to the planet than sticking my bare hands into the earth itself while tending to my plants.
Despite my college studies and longstanding affinity towards plants, I have a lot to learn when it comes to gardening. I don’t have the luxury of fertile, suburban soil and ample sunlight from my childhood. In my small rental on St. Paul’s East Side, the soil is contaminated and the yard is shaded out by the neighboring homes and trees, packed in like sardines on my humble block of urbanity.
My “garden” consists of a ragtag collection of pots and containers filled with mostly leafy greens but also tomatoes, strawberries, a variety of herbs, and a lone broccoli plant. In addition to my small garden, I have between twenty and too many indoor plants, ranging in size from tiny propagules to a massive, 30+ year old schefflera (a gift from my aunt!).
With space, time, and sunlight at a premium, I make do with the little I *do* have: knowledge, passion, and a stubborn determination to grow something, anything in my handful of pots and containers that I can truly be proud of. And so I grow in my own quirky, unconventional ways: I plant seedlings in old tomato cans. I DIYed my own indoor mini plant nursery. I grow just enough to supplement my diet, keeping my body and soul fed while I search endlessly for my next garden project or foraging recipe.
And now? You all will get the chance to come along with me on my journey to discover what it means to be a gardener. To get one’s hands dirty and put in the work for the love of the game rather than profits or any large scale, beautiful, sprawling result. My gardens are dinky, scrappy, and I won’t shy away from showing my failures.
Bok choy and Swiss chard are two of my favorite vegetables to grow in containers.
So, what can you expect from this blog? Other than updates from my own garden, I intend to share a variety of content geared towards small-space, container-based, and urban gardening in a northern climate. However, much of my content will be applicable to any garden, regardless of size or location. Some upcoming topics you can look forward to include:
Some of the plants on my teeny tiny deck! A rain gauge helps me determine when and how much to water my plants.
Netanya Sadoff is a bold young writer and educator with a passion for all things gardening. A lifelong plant enthusiast, Netanya is delighted to contribute to Northern Gardener as their Marketing Intern since June 2025.
Follow them @net.sadoff on Instagram.
The post Room to Grow: Urban Gardening in Tiny Spaces appeared first on Northern Gardener.
About me
I’m Netanya! I’m a twentysomething self-proclaimed “nature nerd” who’s spent the last year and some change as an intern with the Minnesota Horticulture Society. I am also a fresh grad from the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), where I majored in environmental science and minored in horticulture.
I have always been a creature of soil. When I was a kid, I adored helping my mom in the garden. I wasn’t allowed to play in the dirt, so getting my small, grubby hands covered in the stuff while weeding or harvesting carrots was always the next best thing. By the time I was seventeen, I had a local community garden plot, and was growing veggies on my own. To this day, nothing makes me feel more alive and connected to the planet than sticking my bare hands into the earth itself while tending to my plants.
About my garden
Despite my college studies and longstanding affinity towards plants, I have a lot to learn when it comes to gardening. I don’t have the luxury of fertile, suburban soil and ample sunlight from my childhood. In my small rental on St. Paul’s East Side, the soil is contaminated and the yard is shaded out by the neighboring homes and trees, packed in like sardines on my humble block of urbanity.
My “garden” consists of a ragtag collection of pots and containers filled with mostly leafy greens but also tomatoes, strawberries, a variety of herbs, and a lone broccoli plant. In addition to my small garden, I have between twenty and too many indoor plants, ranging in size from tiny propagules to a massive, 30+ year old schefflera (a gift from my aunt!).
With space, time, and sunlight at a premium, I make do with the little I *do* have: knowledge, passion, and a stubborn determination to grow something, anything in my handful of pots and containers that I can truly be proud of. And so I grow in my own quirky, unconventional ways: I plant seedlings in old tomato cans. I DIYed my own indoor mini plant nursery. I grow just enough to supplement my diet, keeping my body and soul fed while I search endlessly for my next garden project or foraging recipe.
And now? You all will get the chance to come along with me on my journey to discover what it means to be a gardener. To get one’s hands dirty and put in the work for the love of the game rather than profits or any large scale, beautiful, sprawling result. My gardens are dinky, scrappy, and I won’t shy away from showing my failures.
Bok choy and Swiss chard are two of my favorite vegetables to grow in containers.
About the Blog
So, what can you expect from this blog? Other than updates from my own garden, I intend to share a variety of content geared towards small-space, container-based, and urban gardening in a northern climate. However, much of my content will be applicable to any garden, regardless of size or location. Some upcoming topics you can look forward to include:
- Succession planting in containers: a how-to guide
- Fungi favorites: identification tips and recipes for safe + sustainable mushroom foraging
- DIY: Build your own bee house
I know I have room to grow. Won’t you grow your garden alongside me?
Some of the plants on my teeny tiny deck! A rain gauge helps me determine when and how much to water my plants.
Netanya Sadoff is a bold young writer and educator with a passion for all things gardening. A lifelong plant enthusiast, Netanya is delighted to contribute to Northern Gardener as their Marketing Intern since June 2025.
Follow them @net.sadoff on Instagram.
The post Room to Grow: Urban Gardening in Tiny Spaces appeared first on Northern Gardener.