Where Can I Plant?
Home gardening is not limited to people with big yards. Anyone with access to a deck, a yard, a flat rooftop, or even some extra kitchen sill space can get growing! Here are a few great ideas of where you can start planting your very own garden.
In your yard
Front yards and back yards are still the most popular and common places to start a garden. The sun and the rain take care of most of the maintenance for you.
The traditional plot method: Still viewed as the standard of vegetable growing, involves cultivation of the whole area. Crops are planted in rows, with strips of bare earth for the gardener to walk in between. This method is usually for people who are intent on growing more abundant, larger, heavier veggies, and are prepared for laborious maintenance - tramping of soil, digging, and constant weeding/hoeing.
The bed system: This system involves allocating separate, rectangular cultivated areas that have borders (such as brick or stone) and are separated from one another by wider, permanent paths. If possible, beds should be oriented North-South. Maintenance is relatively simple, since the closeness of plants smothers most weeds and the walkways make for easier access.
Integrated system: Planting vegetables along with other plants instead of having them delegated to separate areas is preferred by gardeners who do not want to bother with the amount of work involved with plots or beds. This is especially true if one only wishes to grow small amounts of vegetables (such as a head or two of lettuce or kale) and their ornamental appeal can blend well with other non-edible plants.
On your deck or indoors
Decks and Indoor gardening are quickly gaining momentum for locations without access to traditional gardening locations and yards.
Container gardening: An increasingly popular method of gardening, especially for those whose gardening space is limited to a balcony. Containers include pots, troughs, growing bags, etc. - basically any container (with drainage) that is deeper than 8 inches and is raised above the ground. Growing in containers offers the advantages of eliminating weeding problems, digging and pest worries. Using store-bought compost will ensure good quality soil, and moving plants as needed is made much easier. The need for regular watering and feeding, as well as the limitation on the amount of produce you can grow can be disadvantages.
On your windowsill: Here you can grow small pots or tins with herbs. The windowsill in the kitchen is generally a good place for herbs and plants placed here get a lot of attention. Monitoring your plants is easy when they are at a highly visible area like the windowsill. It's also nice to have your herbs handy when you're cooking!
In a greenhouse: Growing in the greenhouse, for those lucky enough to have the space and resources, allows you to grow vegetables that are unpredictable or difficult to care for in the outdoors, as well as allowing you to sow, maintain, and harvest without worrying about wind, rain, or snow. There is also the benefit of being able to have an early harvest, as well as enabling an early start for outdoor varieties when they are propagated in the greenhouse.
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