Alternative Gardening Locations

If you don’t own your home or you live on a small piece of property, chances are high that your area is zoned (R) for residential which means no agricultural production. In some suburban communities, there has been a public fight to allow individuals the right to at least put in annual gardens, drought resistant perennials and small coops for four to six hens. In order to move your family over from being highly dependent on warehouses and the trucking industry, you will need a considerable amount of growing space. While I’ve compiled a list of locations below, some of them will require you to do some investigation in your local area to see what’s legally permitted.

• Neighbor’s Lawn – If you can convince your neighbor to let you grow in their yard space, you can not only get additional food for your family members but offer a portion of the end product for their family. You must get assurance from the owner that they do not use Glyphosate, Grazon or any other lawn chemical that may cause issues with growth.

• Community Garden – There are some cities that have designed some locations as community garden property where you can rent out a plot to grow your own food. Depending on the city or community, there may be a rental fee for the plot or to rent tools for use in your plot.

• Volunteer at Farms – Some small local farms have a volunteer program where they will pay you in produce, eggs or some other farm product for your hard work. You can contact the farms in your area through email or phone and ask around to see what’s available.

• Pots & Planters – If you have run out of usable land space, consider planting micro varieties in pots and placing them throughout your available space. There are numerous sizes and materials available, choose what you can financially afford.

• Use Your Roof – Whether you live in an apartment stack, a condo or a regular home, if you have a flat roof and are physically capable of climbing it to set up planters for additional space, do so. Do what you can what the space you have available.

• Sidewalk/Driveway Removal – Attempting this feat will require you to see what tools are needed and only some individuals will be able to do it as there are laws in place to prevent even homeowners from disturbing what may be deemed as city or state property. If you can however remove these areas, it will provide additional space for growing. As tool rental can be expensive, you should look at whether or not it is financially feasible.

• Urban/Suburban Lots – If you have a lot near where you live that is not in use nor has been in many years, consider paying to have the soil tested to see if it would be a viable to sneak plantings in the area. Some cities are in such a retched state of decay that individuals from the government won’t even drive through the area, so why not consider dropping a few seedlings in certain locations if no one ever uses it.

• Growing in the Shade – While the vast majority of plants prefer growing in full or partial sun, there are some plants that are edible or pollinator friendly that will grow happily in the shade. You can plant gingers, beets, salad greens and numerous other plants in the shade of an old oak tree.

• Existing Garden Openings – Every single space within your landscape needs to have something growing within it. Go over your property thoroughly and see where you can sneak in a kitchen herb, medicinal or other high nutrient value plant.

• Guerilla Gardener – There are those who have thrown seed balls in vacant lots or really any other open ground but I would highly advise you not growing anything in those except wild native flowers. Unless you can test the soil while knowing the plant will be away from pollution, you shouldn’t plant edible food crops there.

• Vertical Growing – If you haven’t started using a trellis or archway to run vines up, now would be a great time to start! Whether it’s maypop, cucumbers, loofah, or even English ivy, going vertical will give you extra space for planting more varieties of edibles.