How To Guide of Urban Gardening

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard a lot about the state of our environment and where it could potentially go if we all don’t make some changes.

With over 7 billion people on the planet and counting, feeding everyone is a huge drain on Earth’s resources. Water use, pollution, energy use and habitat loss all deplete its finite stores. That’s where the burgeoning movement towards urban gardening comes into play.

Urban gardening can be as simple as growing produce on your condo lanai or apartment fire escape to fully fledged city sanctioned pea patches.

Why go urban?

The goal of urban gardening is to make food available as locally as possible, which cuts down on the travel time and cost of transporting (or importing) our food. This cuts down on energy use and pollution as well while ensuring that we get the freshest seasonal food available, without packaging. It also helps us to connect with Mother Earth, giving us a greater appreciation for not only where our food comes from but also how it is produced.

How to start urban gardening?

The beauty of all of this is you don’t have to start big. A couple of pots filled with vegetables or herbs, or a vertical garden created from a discarded pallet placed anywhere you have some sun exposure is adequate for growing your own urban garden. This could be a lanai, deck, window box, rooftop, or even a fire escape (you might want to check local laws and ordinances first!).

Likewise, you can volunteer at the local pea patch or community garden. Involvement with such projects leads you to meet likeminded individuals who can share their urban garden successes (or failures) and build upon these ideas for future implementation.

Every little bit goes a long way in helping our Earth (and the people on it) thrive. So even if you don’t live in the country with vast amounts of space to grow a garden, it’s still possible for city folks to participate in all that Nature has to offer.

Simply turn to urban gardening and reap its benefits!