The Yankees. Golf. LeBron's decision. These are all topics you might expect a 24-year-old guy to bring up when you meet casually at happy hour. Caring for his very own garden? That's not exactly on the list.

Yet it's one of 24-year-old David Krulewich's favorite topics. He knows it's not the most successful pick-up line, but it doesn't faze the 2008 Penn State University graduate. He's proud to say he has already picked the first crop of ripe red tomatoes from his tomato plant, tossing them into a caprese salad with Fiori's mozzeralla.

When he moved from Manhattan to the Mile Square earlier this summer, planting the garden was at the top of his agenda. He knows it's not the most common hobby for a guy his age, but he doesn't care at all. The idea came to him because he wanted to spruce up the planting beds in front of his Hudson Street apartment, which were overgrown with weeds.

"It was awful," he recalls, "It was so nasty."

Two months later, he loves his small, overflowing garden. Though some of the plants suffered in the heat wave, his tomato trees, lilies, marigolds, elephant's ears, lamb's ears, petunias and salvia are making a come back.

A communications major, he has no history of gardening, and has never taken an agriculture class. Listening to him discuss photosynthesis, one would never know.

"It's like having a child, like having a pet," he says, while sipping a beer at Texas Arizona. He has no problem stopping for happy hour after work, but makes sure to get home to water the plants before heading out for the night.

Krulewich is quick to admit that he has already made several rookie mistakes, and offers these tips to future gardeners:

1. Always use fertilizer when planting from the ground up.
2. Use mulch or compost. He is not familiar with apartment compost bins, but says he will be checking it out now that he knows. He currently buys – and recommends – Scotts mulch.
3. On hot days, make sure to water at least twice, if not more.
4. Diversify – plant a variety.
5. Research how plants should be organized – don't plant a tomato tree near other plants, because tomato trees are indeterminate.

While he may seem unique, Krulewich is not the only young guy in Hoboken who is growing his own produce, though he may be more successful than those without ample outdoor space. Kaitlind Marquez says that her 25-year-old male roommate attempted to grow tomato plants on the balcony of their Adams Street apartment, but "failed miserably. Everything died immediatly."

Other young Hobokenites say gardening is not on their list of hobbies.

"I've never thought of it," says Nick Lenzi, 25. "My fiancé talks about it, she'd love to do it. She even wants to join a community garden. But me, no, it's never crossed my mind."