Spotlight: Jessie Banhazl

Jessie is the co-founder, managing director, and owner of Green City Growers, a Somerville company that installs and maintains organic vegetable gardens for homeowners, businesses, restaurants, and schools.

How did you come up with the idea?
A friend from college called and said he had a business proposition for me. It is based on the backyard farming businesses that he saw on the West Coast. Our model is different- the others were more of a farming, CSA style business; our model is similar to landscaping.

How long have you been running Green City Growers?
It's been a little over two years.

What's your dream garden gig?
Whole Foods.

What's the most fun or interesting garden job you've had?
Waltham Crossing- an assisted living center in Waltham. There's a garden club and I spend one afternoon a month with them maintaining the garden. It is so much fun.

What's your favorite plants to grow?
Tomatillos. I LOVE cucumbers. I really like growing swiss chard at home.

Do you garden at home or do you need a break from it after work?
I have a 4 ft. x 8 ft. garden plus a bunch of containers, but my garden is not as well cared for as the people we work for! What's that saying? The cobbler's son is always barefoot.

What plants are easiest for a novice gardener (like me) to grow?
Definitely perennial herbs because they come back every year.
 
What type of fertilizer do you recommend for a home garden?
Fish emulsion. There's a great fish emulsion fertilizer called Neptune's Harvest. It's smelly, but it works.

What garden books do you like?
Eliot Coleman's Four-Season Harvest. In Defense of Food- it's not a gardening book, but is a very important book.

What do you love about your job?
I love doing this, it's really exciting. I love that we have the tools to turn a space that is not being used into a productive vegetable patch.


This interview has been condensed and edited.