Any Size, Anywhere Edible Gardening: The No Yard, No Time, No Problem Way To Grow Your Own Food

213 Pages·2012·41.72 MB·English

by  William Moss

ANY SIZE, ANYWHERE
EDIBLE
GARDENING
THE NO YARD, NO TIME,
NO PROBLEM WAY TO
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
WILLIAM MOSS

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1 Small Space Veggie Gardens: The Perks & Ground Rules
2 Types of Small Space Gardens
3 Time-Saving Tips
4 How to Grow Veggie All-Stars
5 Get Out & Grow! Tomatoes
6 Top Tomato Picks
Appendix A: Veggies for Special Sites
Appendix B: Best Management Practices
Hardiness Zone Map
Glossary
Meet William Moss
Index
Photo Credits
Preface
There’s a special place in my heart for small spaces and community gardens. I
grow crops and flowers in lots of places but James Park Community Gardens is
unique. Surrounded by the good people (many decades older than I) there, I
learned how to garden in small spaces at James Park before I had my rooftop,
balcony, backyard, and other garden spots. That community garden is where I
learned many important lessons.
The first year was a debacle. I planted the tomatoes late. Rank growth
overwhelmed the too-small tomato cages and the tomatoes spilled over the
ground. Between an early frost, pesky squirrels, nibbling voles, and gross slugs,
we only harvested a few ripe tomatoes.
The ornamental section was worse. I built a berm (a raised mound of soil) to
add structure and a focal point, then I promptly planted it wrong. I put the tall
plants (cleome and cosmos) on the bottom and short plants (nasturtiums and
marigolds) on the top. Soon I had an amorphous pile of plants with most of the
flowers hidden under foliage.
But now I know tall plants should be planted on top of a berm and you plant
tomatoes using big, sturdy staking systems as soon as the soil warms to about 60
degrees F. Many similar lessons were learned about other plants and veggies.
Because of crop rotation and succession, the list of veggies we’ve grown in a
community garden in that small plot is extensive. It includes tomatoes, sweet
peppers, chilies, summer squashes, cucumbers, winter squashes, beans, peas,
chard, beets, okra, lettuces, arugula, endive, spinach, tatsoi, pak choi, mustards,
collards, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, asparagus, eggplants, fennel, carrots,
parsnips, radishes, sunchokes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, leeks, shallots,
and corn. Whew!
Thanks for coming along as I share what I’ve learned and help get you started
vegetable gardening.
Introduction
Welcome to you all! I’m excitedly writing this book to offer small space
gardeners my expertise and encouragement. My first bit of advice? Release any
trepidations or worries. Gardening should be fun. It takes skill, but growing
plants is intuitive and as old as civilization. If prehistoric people could scratch
out subsistence gardens using stone tools in some rocky dust, then you can grow
a tomato successfully. And you can do it anywhere, from city to suburb and from
farmland to container.
Be careful, this hobby is addictive. Greening can become obsessive. The
desire to have living, green, ornamental, and healthy things in your presence is
strong.
Gardening is almost instinctual and definitely beneficial. All the attributes of
growing plants are too numerous and subjective to list here, but a few stand out.
Gardening is mentally therapeutic and physically aerobic. Plants filter pollutants
and particles from the air. Growing veggies saves money and provides nutrition.
In cities, gardens soften the artificial landscape, buffer sound, and absorb
stormwater. Plants provide habitat for birds, bees, and butterflies. Greening
decorates and improves the look of any yard, patio, parkway, or balcony. In
general, gardening is good for you, your family, and your community. With these
benefits, neither the lack of space or time should deter anyone from gardening.
I live in a little apartment in one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world
filled with concrete and asphalt, yet I surround myself with plants and dig in the
dirt nearly every day. I’d like to say I integrated gardening into my life, but
honestly, it was probably the other way around. I’ve been blessed with
opportunities to garden all across America from town to country in diverse
settings, such as patios, rural yards, school grounds, church lots, botanic gardens,
town squares, and municipal parks. However, the bulk of my experience was
gained in my three small space gardens: a residential backyard, a community
garden, and a rooftop.
I dug my first hole in my ma’s 30 x 30-foot backyard in a Chicago
neighborhood. A couple years of success there and I had the itch. When you live
in an apartment, there’s only so much the landlord will let you do to the grounds.
Fortunately, most cities rent plots at community gardens. Our roughly 30 x 16-
foot space receives full sun, and we grow mostly veggies. But the necessity of
having produce and flowers right outside my door forced me to expand again to
the balcony and rooftop container gardens.
For years I did not think of my hobby-turned-profession-turned-passion as
small space gardening. I knew it was a little different from landscaping an estate,
but I did not think it deserved a separate category. Wrong! In hindsight there are
tips, techniques, and suggestions that benefit small space gardeners in particular.
Knowledge is half the battle.
If you are reading this, you probably fall into one of three categories. You
have a small yard or maybe no yard. You are time-crunched. You are looking for
expert tips and advice. In some cases it may be all three. It was for me when I
started. Here are some words I wish I had read in those days:
1. Have fun. Gardening should be enjoyable. Fortunately, we’re not
subsistence farmers who depend upon garden crops for their livelihood. With
supermarkets on every other corner, we don’t have to harvest anything. Don’t get
me wrong; there’s no vegetable you can buy at a store that can match
homegrown. But it’s not a matter of life or death. Enjoy yourself. Revel in the
sunshine. Appreciate the butterflies, honeybees, ladybugs, and songbirds. Stay
out in the rain to watch the changing sky and smell the fertile earth. If you are
not finding enjoyment and relaxation in the garden—stop. Take a break and
come back later.
2. Don’t stress. I can’t emphasize this enough. If you forget to water or have
an insect infestation, it’s okay. If your neighbor loses control of his riding lawn
mower and demolishes your entire garden, it’ll be okay. You can always plant
again (on your neighbor’s dime).
3. Start small. Don’t grow more than you can weed weekly, and water often.
There are so many delectable, nutritious, easy-to-grow veggies that you are
going to want them all in your garden—go slow. There’s nothing wrong with
starting with a small plot or containers. You can expand later.
4. Don’t let a lack of knowledge intimidate you. Every gardener was a
novice once. And even for those who are seasoned gardeners, there are always