On my most recent visit home to Boston, my family's garden was bursting with brilliant flavors. We ate fresh herbs on everything and sautéed just-plucked broccoli with newly-dug garlic. A garden is a glorious thing, although I did not always think so as a kid, when I was ordered out to weed and sweat on summer days. Recently, my family's garden has undergone a subtle but life-altering change, replacing our traditional row garden with boxed-off plots (like long, low containers). What used to require feats of (child) labor—turning over the soil with manure and compost, then interminable weeding—has become comparatively simple.

Before I returned to Shanghai, I bought the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew which outlines how to create a container garden, even with only a few feet of space. I trekked to an agricultural market in Songjiang to buy ingredients for my soil mix. I asked a neighborhood shop selling cheap plywood to nail together my garden boxes. Taobao.com sells a gazillion seeds and plants, and B&Q has a seed selection too. Then it was time to plant, a magical time of hope (all the work is now behind you). When the first sprouts appeared, I yelled out with awe like a proud parent.

Other than needing water and light, my humble garden is delightfully independent—in container gardening there is rarely a weed in sight. I make salads with arugula, baby radishes and golden beets–Eduardo Vargas at Casa 13 (Mediterranean) serves just arugula in a snappy lemon dressing. Just touching my lemon basil plants releases a heady warm scent, and I’ve found it makes a fantastic citrusy pesto. Chef Partner Eric Johnson of Jean-Georges (French), whose menu is renowned for its inspired use of spices and herbs, says, "In terms of versatility it's pretty hard to beat basil, there are a million uses for it."

I think of my basil, and how it's time to start planting an autumn crop in my indoor containers. A peek into Jean-Georges' cold storage reveals over a dozen fresh herbs (many from premium purveyor Gusto Fine Foods) including an immense stock of tarragon, which Johnson tells me, with its delicate anise aroma, is one of his favorites. As I head home, I look forward to adding tarragon to my autumn garden.

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