Growing Green Thumbs “With some effort, urban gardeners can grow great vegetables anyplace that af- fords enough light and warmth,” advises Strauss, who gardens primarily in raised beds in her front and back yards. “I gar- den on the scale I do because I love it. It’s both relaxing and challenging, and we eat well.”
Urban gardening methods are as
diverse as the growing conditions, space limitations and financial resources of the gardener.
“Lasagna” gardening—layering newspaper or cardboard and other organic materials on top—can be effec- tive in urban areas because it involves no digging or tilling. Just as with making compost, alternate between brown and green layers. Once the materials break down, add plants to the newly created growing bed. Urban dwellers with limited space
may employ square-foot gardening, intensively growing plants in raised beds using a growing medium of vermiculite, peat moss and compost. This method can yield fewer weeds and is easier on the back. “It’s an easy concept to grasp for new gardeners,” remarks Joy. “We use it to both maximize output in a small area and ensure healthy, organic, contaminant- free soil.”
Rooftop gardens are becoming more common as larger agricultural opera- tions use them to grow income crops. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture considers anyone that sells more than $1,000 of produce to neighbors or area restaurants a farmer, rather than a gardener, so regula- tions may apply. For renters, just a few tomato plants in a well-maintained container on a patio or deck can yield as much as 50 pounds of tomatoes by taking advantage of its microclimate, influenced by wind blocks, heated surfaces and reflected light from windows.
Urban gardening is also thriving
indoors in terrariums, window boxes and small greenhouses. Even partially lit rooms can support certain vegetables or herbs with grow lights. Aquaponic gardening, a closed-loop system that involves both fish and vegetables, ex- pands the self-sufficient possibilities of a hydroponic system of growing plants fed by liquid nutrients.
Feeding Ourselves With more than 80 percent of Americans currently living in urban and suburban areas, the questionable nutrition of many
mass-produced foods, increasing pesti- cide and herbicide use by non-organic farmers, greenhouse gas emissions from food transport and weather patterns altered by climate change, it’s past time to take back some control. Operating our own gardens and preparing our own meals turns us back into producers, not merely consumers. “For the most part, we’re just average
suburbanites,” concludes Brown. “We just choose to have less lawn and more gar- den. A huge benefit is that we need less income because we’re buying less at the grocery store. Our goal is to semi-retire in our mid-50s—not because we’ve made a bunch of money, but because we’ve needed less money to live along the way.”
John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist, co-authors of Farmstead Chef (
FarmsteadChef.com), ECOpreneuring and Rural Renaissance, operate the award-winning Inn Serendip- ity Bed & Breakfast, in Browntown, WI. They grow 70 percent of their organic food; the cost savings helped them be- come mortgage-free in their mid-40s.
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