Urban
Food Production
In urban areas, the amount of energy used to transport
food from distant farms to supermarkets is enormous. We burn
a massive amount of fossil fuels bringing produce from the farm
to the city, storing and refrigerating it at the market, and
then driving to buy our groceries and returning home.
Fortunately,
many fruits and vegetables are easy to grow in your home garden and in containers. The requirements of fruits and vegetables
are of course the same in the city as they are on the farm:
the correct amount of water and light, and healthy soil. If
you create the correct conditions for healthy plants, you’ll
be well on your way to enjoying fresh fruits and veggies from
your own garden and reducing our impact on the environment.
Finding
a place to grow your plants is the first step. Some options
are on the roof, in doorways, on sidewalks, in hanging baskets,
on the fire escape, or in window boxes. Use your imagination
based on your living space. As a general rule, you’ll
need to give your plants a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight a
day. Make sure you have a water source close by as well. You’ll
also want to consider issues of your neighbors and the owner
of the property if you rent. You definitely don’t want
water to damage any part of the property and have this come
back to haunt you later if you decide to move.
If
you’re going to plant vegetables in containers, consider
growing shallow-rooting plants which require around 6 inches
of soil. These include most herbs and greens such as spinach
and lettuce. Tomatoes require at least 12 inches to grow well.
You can be as imaginative with your containers as you wish.
Check out these excellent urban garden
container options from Clean Air Gardening. You can also
recycle buckets, cans, etc. However, you’ll want to make
sure that you punch drainage holes in whatever container you
choose to use.
A
very ingenious urban
gardening project in Chicago using plastic wading pools
claims to have produced up to 28 square feet and 40 pounds of
produce in each pool. The swimming pools are extremely cheap
and durable.
You
should be aware that certain varieties of plants grow better
in urban environments than others. Please see our Plant
Guide for Urban Gardeners for ideas on what fruits and
vegetables will grow well in your city garden.
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2005 Urban Gardening Help. All Rights Reserved.
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