Victory Gardens rock!

I am afraid we are coming back to a time when we will have to grow Victory Gardens. Just like in WWII!

In my new found exuberance in gardening, I feel that we should share in the exchange of ideas to get folks out gardening. I know the one excuse is I don’t have any land. Hogwash I say! Sharon Astyk and her Casauban’s Book Blog puts it a better way than I can:

“If you’ve only got a windowsill…GROW SPROUTS! Sprouting seeds from broccoli, alfalfa, wheat, radishes, spinach and other vegetables are delicious, highly nutritious and an excellent substitute for out of season things. You can have something crisp, crunchy and delicious on your salad even when there are no peppers or lettuce to be had. Everyone can grow their own sprouts. Here’s how."

Now Sharon and I have differing ideas on TEOTWAWKI, but I whole heartily agree with her on this. There are lots of bloggers out there who do pretty good with limited space- Matt and Melinda have an allotment at Melinda’s mothers, but they also have a fire escape garden and window boxes with fresh herbs and such. Also, the shiba guys have done amazing things in their small albeit great garden of their condo-an edible garden that has been featured on garden tours in West Seattle and don’t forget to check out their fabulous Potato Condo!

Container gardening is the hope for most apartment dwellers. But it is also a great thing for those of us who have small yards. One thing I have found out there is the Earth-tainer- on the Tomatofest site- This container-based system combines the traditional soil-based growing cycle with elements of hydroponic moisture delivery to the plants for sustainable, organic gardening. And here are the plans to make your very own earth-tainer

And by folks sharing their creations with us on their blogs- I get to learn about Potato Condos, raising strange new things like Borage.
One of the best sites for small space gardening is Square foot gardening. Mel Bartholemew shows the easy way to garden. A foot at a time! I feel kinda close to Mel’s method- (A little horn tooting here) as I started the Square foot Gardening Group on yahoo under my old handle of ppreater, and its membership today is over 3,000 strong! All because I read Bartholemew’s book and put a small garden in at the mobile home I owned in Kent!

I have always had a garden of one variety or another, and I do like to grow things- when I lived in an apartment, I grew tomatoes and cucumbers on my balcony, I had a small square foot garden when I lived in the mobile home. I now live in a regular house and have an irregular garden- I still like to grow my tomatoes in pots and I still use most of the Square Foot Gardening basics I learned. Now if I can just get my mother to grow some food at her apartment, I will have accomplished something!