How Brancaccio's Garden Grows

It's easy to adopt tunnel vision at Brancaccio's Food Shop: After all, who cares what color the walls are painted or what artwork adorns them when there's lobster-bacon mac 'n cheese to be had? 

But almost as important as what goes on inside Brancaccio's, a petite specialty food store on Fort Hamilton Parkway, is what's going on just outside: a carefully curated wonderland of eggplant, arugula, peppers, figs and even a Christmas tree are all busily flourishing in the front yard, unacknowledged by many customers too intent on scoring the last roast chicken of the day to notice. 

"I went and had lunch there one day and said 'This is so good! Wouldn't it be cool to grow everything you sell in the place?'" said Tracey Hohman, who for the past two years has served as the garden's mastermind and chief caretaker. "We started with two containers, but then [owner Joe Brancaccio] was like, 'Oh, I want more! I want a fig tree!'" 

"Every year now he says 'I want the French Laundry, baby. Let’s go.'"

Examples of Hohman's work are everywhere: A lifelong gardener and 20-year resident of the area (she lived on Albermarle Road in Kensington before moving to Ditmas Park), her plants can be seen in containers at Jaya Yoga (both on Fort Hamilton Parkway and in Park Slope), Juice Box liquor store on Prospect Avenue and around Ditmas Park—her work even scored the community a set of first place victories in this year's Greenest Block in Brooklyn competition.

When she's not tending storefronts, Hohman works with clients to rid their front yards of lawns and replace them with perennial woodland gardens, as well as helping those interested in learning to garden, but unsure where to start.

At Brancaccio's, what started as just two pots on the shop's modest cement patio has now blossomed to six, with nearly every inch of space taken up with all manner of Italian herbs, spices and other assorted vegetables, all of which Brancaccio regularly uses in his famed pre-made dishes.

Not everything she tries to plant, succeeds, of course. An attempt at growing corn last year was a flop, but at under $2 for a packet of seedlings, Hohman said she can afford to take the hit.  

Besides, the failures are nothing compared to the garden's success, which Hohman says is a real testament to how much the street has bloomed in the past few years.

"The eggplants are completely happy, the rosemary looks fantastic. The fig has like, its own Twitter following," she said.

"When I work there, I get so much positive feedback from the community. People are so happy to see food growing on an industrial street."