I was stuck with the idea that if you wanted to grow your own vegetables you needed land, you needed a yard no matter small or big just as long as you had ground space to dig. I had the impression for a very long time that if you wanted to grow your own vegetables you needed space. I would drool in envy as I saw my friends grow their own organic vegetables in their yards and was sad that I had no small yard space of my own to nurture my cravings of growing organic vegetables that I would be able to pick and eat straight away.
One day sitting at the computer surfing the web as usual I came across a book whose title caught my immediate attention, Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces, the book practically had my name written all over it, 'this book was made for me!' was my very first thought.
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| The book doesn't have all the answers (208 pgs long) It deals with basics & upon first reading it is very comforting and supportive. |
I bought the book, and as dramatic as this may sound please know it to be true, it changed things for me drastically. Living in a one bedroom 900 sqft. apartment in the middle of Los Angeles near one of it's many busy streets with only one side of the apartment that gets sunlight, I am now growing my own veg.
I often thought growing things in cans and toilet rolls would look
ugly and embarrassing. To my pleasant surprise it actually looks
cute & gives my living-room a very homey feel (this pic does not
do it justice).
The middle container: A recent re-pot of a chili pepper
that was getting too large for it's starting container. To
the left of it in the white tray I just started some sprouts
which supposedly is the easiest thing you can grow,
we'll see about that!
Thyme, basil and tomatoes were all pretty easy to grow. Resist the urge to plant as
many seeds as you can in a container, I couldn't resist this urge & now I've got one
too many tomato plants in a single container, which I'm sure which will just make
it harder come time to replant them.
A tip in the book: using toilet paper rolls. An awesome & much easier way to
plant especially if you need to replant them in bigger pots, replanting is not one
of the better things I can do I've found.
I planted 3 kinds of Chili: Ancho, New Mexican Joe Parker & Jalapenos. I found all three
were much slower to sprout but they're all coming a long beautifully now.
Now I've got a window sill full of trays, cans, pots and toilet rolls growing thyme, chili peppers, basil, dill, french beans, sprouts and tomatoes. It's become a new hobby of mine that I absolutely can't get enough of, and though the progress is slow I find it worth-while just watching the babies grow.
Start with one or two to see if you like growing your own vegetables in your small apartment space, the materials needed are priced wonderfully so that you can get an ample sized bag of organic soil at Home Depot or Osh for only $8 and an envelope of seeds from $2-$4. If you save cans, plastic bottles even toilet rolls (which I do), these are all easily transformed into pots with draining holes for you to plant in.
Here a couple of apartment/small space dwellers who were quite successful with their growing...
Happy planting!
Here a couple of apartment/small space dwellers who were quite successful with their growing...
Happy planting!