No matter where you live, you can grow food in an elegant and productive way with urban gardening.
Justin Rohner from Agriscaping suggests getting started with three easy steps: healthy soil, healthy starts and healthy systems.
- Healthy SOIL: For traditional vegetables, the soil needs to be deep (at least 12-18 inches), well draining, high in organic matter and hold moisture like a sponge.
- Healthy STARTS: Seeds can be tough for a beginning garden, especially if there are hungry birds and critters around! Start by planting healthy seedlings that you can often find at a local nursery with at least four mature leaves, and no visible roots protruding from the base of their growing container.
Ensure success with products to jump-start your garden. Holganix is a bionutrient that improves soil biology and helps grow healthy plants with deep roots. AquaSmart PRO is a super absorbent material that keeps moisture accessible to the plant roots. Mirimichi Green offers products to improve the efficiency of soil.
- Healthy SYSTEM: Avoid the traditional "binge-gardening" approach with edibles where you take a weekend and plant a bunch of stuff. It's better to start small, and make gardening a routine where you plant only enough for your typical day or week every day/week. That way, you never over-burden yourself.
For more on each of these three steps to get started, check out Agriscaping’s video on a successful urban garden. Want to learn more about urban gardening and Agriscaping? Visit bit.ly/EwingAgriscaping.