4.
Your Biggest Obstacle is Finding Space
You want to have a garden where you can grow food, but you may have a limited amount of space. You can still grow a variety of plants.No matter if you have a pot of herbs inside or a large garden, growing food can be a rewarding experience, especially when you are able to use what you grow. Even if you have had some plant fatalities in your past, you can still be successful.3 Easy Ways to Incorporate Vegetable Gardening into a Small SpaceAdd some indoor growing systems! If you are looking for some fairly carefree systems to grow some vegetable or herbs, you can purchase some systems that are meant to be indoors. I recently purchased the AeroGarden Harvest Slim for under $100. It has grow lights, 6 pre-seeded pods, and liquid fertilizer. It even reminds you to add water or fertilizer and the lights turn on automatically. There are also larger systems such as Gardyn Tower for larger amounts of produce.Find the light. The key to growing in small spaces is to find where you have natural light. This could be a balcony, patio or porch, sunny window, or a space out front or behind your home. Plants would be grown in containers.When it comes to food plants, if you have between 1-2 hours of direct sun or filtered light, you can grow leaf and root vegetables, including some herbs, although not all herbs thrive with limited light. With 2-6 hours, you can add some fruiting plants like beans and summer squash, as well as some adapted varieties of bush tomatoes, such as the 'Patio' cultivar. Other fruiting plants, like most tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants, need at least 6 hours of sunlight in order to fruit.Grow vertical. If you don't have a lot of area, think about going vertical. You can use trellises for climbing plants, such as cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, and nasturiums. You can also purchase tower gardens. I have the Garden Tower 2 which only takes up 2 square feet of space and composts with worms in the center. It fits 50 plants in there!Hi, I’m Dr. Denise DeBusk, plant doctor and horticulture professorI help gardeners increase their production through problem-solving and space-saving techniques.I have several degrees in plant health and pest management, as well as 15 years of experience solving plant problems and educating students about plants.During the pandemic, I moved many of my college courses online and loved teaching online and spending time with my young child. I wanted to extend my experience beyond the classroom and help gardeners with their own gardens.Now I want to help you do the same! If you are ready to grow some food, I’m here to help.Extra Resources to Get your Garden on the Right Foot!1. Keep up with me on Facebook. I post garden tips several times a week. From plant issues you may be seeing to gardening strategies and container systems, I’ve got you covered. You can even join my Facebook group for additional support.2. Take one of challenges. I do challenges on Seed-Starting, Container Gardening, and Building a Vegetable Garden using the square-foot technique, so that you have that extra support and guidance you need to feel confident in your gardening experience. There are videos associated with the event and even live sessions where you can ask me questions.3. Download my free PDF Growing Conditions and Uses of Herbs. This easy-to-read table tells you the propagation method, type of soil, sunlight preference, and growth type of several common herbs. There are a list of definitions for those new to gardening.And be sure to check your inbox, because I’ll be sending you a pdf of this report, the Growing Conditions and uses of Herbs PDF, and the other reports so you don't miss out on all the tips!
