Putting the Real in Realtor—Paula

Gardening in Las Vegas may seem unlikely at first glance, but it is possible and very rewarding.

My grandmother immigrated from Eastern Europe in 1920; she was only 16 years old. She moved to Las Vegas in 1954. The first time I ever saw compost was in my grandmother's backyard. She could grow anything. She had plants cross pollinating. She had things that looked like zucchinis but tasted like cantaloupe. We used to jokingly say, “Bubbe, if you threw chicken bones into your compost, you could grow chickens.” She truly had a green thumb.

I wanted to be like my grandmother, so I planted carrot seeds in my parents’ backyard. They grew down an inch and then started growing sideways. The longest they got was about two inches. Needless to say, I was a complete failure at farming.

Years later, after buying my own home, I decided to take classes at Desert Demonstration Garden to learn how to grow things in our very dry desert. I learned how important it is to prepare the soil up front. And now? I get thousands of apricots on my apricot tree. Hundreds of Meyer lemons sprout on my lemon tree. Peaches grow so heavily they sometimes snap the tree limbs. I have planter boxes in my backyard and grow snow peas, string beans, many varieties of tomatoes, strawberries, onions, Swiss chard, bell peppers, and turnips. Every herb I need to cook with grows in my garden. I don't yet know how to grow chickens from putting bones in the compost pile, but I have finally figured out how to have my grandmother's green thumb.