Q&A: Everyday Meals, Grown at Home

A conversation with food creator and mom of two, Dana Nario (@dana.nario)

Food creator, mom of two, and longtime Lettuce Grow grower Dana Nario has built a community around approachable recipes, colorful lunchboxes, and making everyday family meals feel a little more joyful. We sat down with Dana to talk about cooking with homegrown ingredients, raising adventurous eaters, and the small rituals that make time in the kitchen more meaningful.

1.How did you become interested in growing your own food?

I didn't have any real gardening experience before this. Just those grocery store herbs, and that was about it. I actually saw Lettuce Grow on Instagram ads first, and then a friend of mine posted about it.

Before I started, I always had this idea in my head that I'd probably kill whatever I tried to grow, or that I just wouldn't be able to keep it alive. When the seedlings first arrived, I remember thinking, "Wait, am I doing this right?" I got a little overwhelmed, but we had produce in about two to three weeks, and I realized I'd been overthinking the whole thing.

2. What are you growing or harvesting right now, heading into late summer? Are there any varieties you never want to be without? 

Right now our cucumbers are still going, our tomatoes are still growing, and I just harvested the last of our green beans yesterday. Our watermelon is still growing too, and it's gotten a little bigger, which I'm really excited about. We still have kale, and we've gone through our lettuces and bok choy, since those are what we use most for stir-fry.

For stir-fry, bok choy is definitely my favorite. I also tried watercress for the first time. We made a salad with it, and my mother-in-law loved it. It was her first time trying it too; I told her it's kind of like an arugula. I always want herbs, lettuce, and bok choy around too — those are the things I reach for constantly when I'm cooking.

The watermelon has been the fun one this summer. It's propped up on a little stool, and my five-year-old is very attached to it — it fell off once, and she said, "Oh no, my baby watermelon!"

The pumpkins, on the other hand, haven't produced anything yet. I watched a video on hand-pollination before the seedlings even arrived so I'd be ready, and I've tried it a few times. No luck so far, but they're still flowering.

3. Your lunchboxes have become one of your signatures. What's your philosophy when you're packing meals for your kids? 

I love packing leftovers because it saves so much time in the morning. I already know what we have, and the kids know ahead of time what to expect. My biggest thing is keeping it familiar so there's no surprise about what's in there. Sometimes I'll ask them, "Do you want fruit today, or do you want cucumbers?" so they get some say in it, though that still doesn't guarantee it comes home empty.

And sometimes I'll make it a little cute, especially for my five-year-old — a star-shaped apple, or apples cut like little French fries. Little surprises like that. What comes back empty is almost always something fried, paired with cucumber.

4. What are some ways you get your kids excited about fresh food, and have you noticed a shift now that they've watched it grow themselves? 

My twelve-year-old isn't the biggest fan of cucumber, but if you tell her to just try it, or if it's sitting out on the table, she will. My five-year-old, though, loves it — she's always asking, "Where can we pick this one up? Is this one grown enough yet?" She checks on the cucumbers constantly.

I really love seeing that curiosity come out naturally in her. Instead of me telling her she should eat something, she's the one asking, "What can we do with this? How can we eat this?" Same with the tomatoes — she'll say, "They're red, maybe we can get it now, Mommy, they're growing."

They've gotten curious about everything around the Farmstand, honestly, even the bees and other pollinators that show up. They'll want a closer look, or ask what kind of bug it is.

5. Has anything ever failed or surprised you in the Farmstand? What did you learn from it? 

Honestly, the biggest surprise for me was realizing how much I'd been overthinking the whole thing. I'd never really grown anything before, so in my head I always figured I'd kill it or not be able to keep it alive. But once we actually saw things grow, it was so much easier than I expected.

I've also learned it still takes patience. Even with the easiest method available, you have to put in the time and commitment. I'm constantly looking things up, checking the app, figuring out what something's going to look like in a few days, or learning something totally new, like hand-pollinating. That's actually one of my favorite parts, you never really stop learning.

Before this, I'd looked into traditional outdoor gardening, and it felt like a lot — the time, the space, buying everything you'd need, with no guarantee I'd actually be successful. That was part of what held me back. With the Farmstand, it's easier, but it still gives you room to learn at your own pace.

I still love going outside every morning to check on everything, especially the tomatoes. I like cutting the whole stem instead of just picking off the fruit, so it looks like something from a farmers market sitting in the fridge.

6. If someone just received their very first Farmstand, what would you tell them to plant first — and why? 

Definitely lettuce and herbs. Lettuce grows so fast, you can harvest the whole thing at once, or just keep cutting leaves and let it keep going.

Herbs are probably my favorite because they save me so much time. I used to be cooking and realize I needed a specific herb and just skip it because I didn't want to make another trip to the store. Now I just walk outside. It's maybe 30 steps, and you don't have to choose between flavor and time anymore.

I'd also add at least one flowering plant. My nasturtium has been my favorite so far. It just keeps growing, and it gives the Farmstand this nice pop of color. It's really pretty to look at.

I use the flowers a lot when we have friends over. I'll freeze them into ice cubes to make drinks look nice. I've noticed the ice comes out a lot clearer when I use alkaline water instead of regular tap water. Don't quote me on the science, but it's made a difference for me

7. What's one recipe people ask you for over and over again? 

People ask me a lot about shortcuts, especially with stir-fries. I post fried rice on my stories a lot. I'll chop up bok choy or kale and throw it in, then finish with a lot of green onions on top.

My biggest tip for saving time is using ground meat instead of something you'd normally have to marinate for a while. I'll do a teriyaki with ground chicken and add apple sauce for a little sweetness for the kids. I've also tried it with mango puree in meatballs. The fruit helps tenderize the meat and keeps it moist, and you get the same flavor in way less time.

I've done the same thing with bulgogi-style flavors for my daughter's lunchbox — garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar. I just stir-fry the ground meat and pour the sauce right in so it all soaks together in one go, instead of marinating overnight.

And I always finish with a lot of green onions. It adds flavor, but honestly, it also just makes the food look prettier. I definitely eat with my eyes first.

8. If we opened your refrigerator right now, what ingredients would we always find alongside your Farmstand harvests?

There's always overripe fruit I'm saving for banana bread, and probably four or five different kinds of bread, because they all serve a different purpose. Milk, yogurt. Just the basics, really.
I still keep a sourdough starter going too. I actually killed my first one, so when we moved, I started a new one and just call her "2.0." I'm not much of a recipe follower. I'll follow the measurements and then just wing the rest. Recently I made a turmeric sourdough, and when it came time to shape it, I felt like it needed something on top. I thought about green onion, but figured that would be too strong with the turmeric, so I grabbed nasturtium from the Farmstand instead. It was completely unplanned, but it turned out so pretty it was almost too pretty to eat.

One last thought: if you're thinking about growing for the first time, the biggest hurdle is really just the idea of having, or not having, a "green thumb." Before, if I killed a plant, I'd blame it entirely on that. But it really comes down to patience, commitment, and a little research. You learn as you go, and that matters a lot more than whatever color thumb you think you have.