Garden Archive

This week is completely dedicated to Gardening. We are not focusing on flowers. We are focusing on feeding our families. Whether you have a small yard or just a balcony, you can grow food for your family. We are focusing on people who are trying to get a lot of use out of the little bit of land that they have. Since we relocated about 8 months ago into an apartment with only a balcony with little space, and even less sun (no direct sun!), my garden at this point is meager and frugal.

I bought a small greenhouse, which only consists of 4 shelves, for my garden, as I was unsure if anything would grow with such a limitation on natural sunlight. I ended up buying a greenhouse just like the one below. Initially, I used old dresser drawers for a LOT of planting area (for the space), and planted it for a square foot garden. My efforts failed after my first crop of lettuce for 2 reasons: the drawers disintigrate quickly and they attract EVERY kind of bug you can imagine, worst being biting gnats. They were also WAY too heavy for the shelves of the unit, and they eventually started to give.

In a search for something incredibly cheap for me to plant in, I discovered plant bags, like the ones below. They come in a multitude of sizes, and I am very happy with them. I started off with 1 gallon bags, and am getting ready to purchase a set of 5 gallon bags. I challenged the needs of tomatoes and peppers, and started growing citrus trees, a few papayas, and a mango tree from seeds of fruit from the grocery store. I know this is not necessarily the fastest way to grow these trees, and the fruits will not be the same as their mother tree (they could be worse OR better!). It was the cheapest by far. At this point, my garden has a few tomatoes growing and a few peppers. These are currently full size plants in 1 gallon bags. They should be in larger ones, but my garden at this point is for testing and experimentation. My total garden setup to date has cost me about $65. I also bought soil and a sprayer from a local hardware store. My shelves are full of baby trees I hope to transplant when we move into a home with a yard. I estimate we will purchase a home or at least land for a new home in about 2 years, and by that time they should be strong enough to go in the ground.

Moving from Chicago to Florida changes a lot of things with how, what and when to grow. I also wanted to test the limits of these land loving plants. Gardening does not have to be hard or time consuming, but can make ends meet with your family's food bill. I had a much larger set up in Chicago, even on our small shaded lot. The first year will be a great test for what grows well in your particular microclimate. Plant as many vegetables and varieties of what you can afford, and visit your agricultural extension's website to see what grows well in the area.