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Green Thumb:\u00a0Dr. Marion Nestle in her New York terrace garden on June 11, 2026 (all photos courtesy of the subject).<\/p>\n
Welcome to this installment of\u00a0Field Trip<\/a>, our series that goes inside gardens and farms across the globe and spotlights the interesting people who keep them alive. Today we\u2019re talking to nutritionist and food policy expert Marion Nestle about her gorgeous Greenwich Village terrace garden.<\/p>\n When I emailed\u00a0Marion Nestle<\/a>, I didn\u2019t think she\u2019d respond. After all, the 89 year-old nutritionist is arguably the nation\u2019s foremost expert on food policy, has a\u00a0new book<\/a>\u00a0coming out in September (her 17th) and is readying to appear at the\u00a0Aspen Ideas Festival\u00a0<\/a>on June 30, where she\u2019ll speak on a \u201cwellness\u201d panel with Casey Means, RFK\u2019s withdrawn pick for surgeon general (it\u2019s fair to say that Nestle and Means have more than a few differing views). She\u2019s been on advisory boards and committees for the FDA, USDA and American Cancer Society, to name a few. She\u2019s a public health advocate and an outspoken critic against the corporate lobbying, regulatory loopholes and deceptive marketing practices that cause Americans \u2014\u00a0especially ones with fewer financial resources \u2014\u00a0to get and stay stuck in a cycle of poor health. She also updates her own website,\u00a0Food Politics<\/a>, with articles and links to new research almost daily.<\/p>\n I first heard of Dr. Nestle back in 2004 when she appeared in\u00a0Super Size Me,\u00a0the documentary that followed filmmaker Morgan Spurlock as he exclusively ate McDonalds for 30 days. She was warm and funny and talked about nutrition and the fast food marketing machine in a clear, no bullshit way that let viewers know just how truly knowledgeable she was in her area of expertise. It resonated.<\/p>\n Around this time I was a chubby college kid eating late night cheesy bread slathered in packets of ranch and butter sauce (sometimes as both a late night, post-imbibement snack and again in the morning for breakfast, when it obviously tastes even better). So when I eventually started to prioritize actually feeling good in my body, Dr. Nestle\u2019s philosophy on eating a wide variety of largely plant-based whole unprocessed foods felt incredibly simple and quite rational. Back then, eating \u201cclean\u201d \u2014\u00a0i.e. organic fruits and vegetables, lean protein, food containing ingredients you could recognize and pronounce \u2014\u00a0wasn\u2019t a fad (fad diets, unsurprisingly, are not something Dr. Nestle has much patience for). Today, I have a copy of\u00a0What to Eat Now,\u00a0Dr. Nestle\u2019s landmark 2006 book that was updated and re-released last fall, sitting on my bedside table.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So again, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d hear back when I reached out to ask if Dr. Nestle would tell me more about the terrace garden she keeps in New York, which she\u2019d mentioned in passing in a\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0I read last year promoting her book. I\u2019ve been thinking about her and her terrace ever since.<\/p>\n But she did respond. And she did so with the exact same gusto and warmth she seems to convey in her writing and her\u00a0media appearances<\/a>. \u201cI would be delighted,\u201d she wrote, before letting me know that work was soon starting on her Manhattan apartment building and that the garden photo shoot would have to happen right away. Pictures of Dr. Nestle radiating joy amid her terrace greenery followed almost immediately.<\/p>\n Below, Dr. Nestle dives into her gardening philosophy (\u201ceffortless\u201d), how she\u2019s created a productive plot of land in the middle of New York City, and the biggest thing she\u2019s splurged on for her lush outdoor space.<\/p>\n Your terrace is gorgeous \u2014 an oasis in the city! What part of Manhattan are you growing your garden in?<\/p>\n Marion Nestle:\u00a0Greenwich Village on the edge of NoHo on the 12th\u00a0floor of a landmarked building built in 1931. The apartment was\u00a0formerly occupied by Congressman and Mayor Ed Koch<\/a>. I moved in when he lost the election and moved to a tonier building.<\/p>\n Tell me a little about what\u2019s out there. I see\u00a0herbs<\/a>, Sweet Williams, and a Japanese Maple among so many other plants. What are some of the other plants and flowers you have at the moment?<\/p>\n M.N.\u00a0When I first moved in, I had a view up to 53rd\u00a0street, but now I have a bunch of evergreens to block my current view of the building that blocked it. I try to grow as much food as possible, and have dwarf sour cherry and peach trees, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, Cayuga White grapes, lettuce, tomatoes,\u00a0basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, and oregano<\/a>. I\u2019ve got daylilies, dianthus, and azaleas. I love\u00a0loosestrife<\/a>\u00a0and put some in and now I know why everyone is afraid of it; it has seeded practically every pot and is a big weeding chore. And then the vines: ivy growing up the walls for my neighbors to enjoy, and two kinds of honeysuckle. Several of the trees are volunteers\u2014the hawthorn, for example, and the tall weedy ones. The ivy also makes prolific seeds that sprout everywhere.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019d love to know a bit of the history and evolution of the garden. Did you have any help with the planning or did you do it yourself?<\/p>\n M.N.\u00a0As should be obvious, I like messy, overgrown gardens. When I first moved in, the super said no plants on the terrace. At the time, it was covered with beautiful Mexican tiles. I wrote a lengthy petition and promised to keep all pots off the tiles, and that\u2019s how it started. It\u2019s evolved over the years, especially after the times the building has to be pointed; the city requires checking for loose bricks every 5-10 years. When that happens, everything goes off the terrace and the equipment goes on it, usually for months. When they are done, I start over.<\/p>\n Is this your first garden?<\/p>\n M.N.\u00a0I\u2019ve always had gardens whenever I could. This dates back to a summer camp in Vermont that had a fabulous kitchen garden along with wild berries everywhere.<\/p>\n What is upkeep like? How much time and maintenance does it require? I\u2019d also love to know a little about your gardening routine \u2014 do you listen to music or podcasts when you garden?<\/p>\n M.N.\u00a0None of the above. It\u2019s effortless except for getting it going in the spring when I clean out the hanging boxes of mixed annuals and perennials. After that, everything is on its own. I just weed,\u00a0pinch<\/a>, and harvest. Everything is in pots. They stay out in the winter and either survive or not. Nothing comes in. They are on their own. There used to be two terrific plant stores within easy walking distance but both have closed so whatever\u00a0plants I buy<\/a>\u00a0come from the Union Square farmers market or from online stores.<\/p>\n I travel a lot and what makes this all possible is a fabulous computerized watering system managed by a really competent company. They turn the system on in the spring and off in the winter and check it all several times in the summer. I can leave anytime and not worry about it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n What got me most excited to talk to you \u2014 given your line of work, expertise, and areas of advocacy \u2014 are the edible portions of your garden. How do you use the edible things you grow, and how do those things contribute to you being able to eat the way you want? Personally, I started my first herb garden because I wanted to have chives, cilantro and\u00a0basil<\/a>\u00a0on hand for my favorite white bean dish that I cook and I didn\u2019t want to have to buy herbs in plastic clamshells. I\u2019m curious if there\u2019s any one meal, dish, etc. that inspired you to start growing your own food.<\/p>\n M.N.\u00a0Let\u2019s be real. My cherry tree produced three tiny jars of jam. I do go out and pick the berries for breakfast during the weeks they are in fruit, and I pick the lettuce for salads, but we are talking about food for one here.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/3a76fb12-f383-42fd-adf3-81674d33f9b6_1010.png\")
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