Do You Have A Garden?

Almost everyone can grow at least some of their veggies, even if they only live in apartment and only have a sunny window to grow plants in. We have a large yard; but we also have many old trees that cover most of the yard. The shade makes it hard for anything to grow, plus all of the tree roots are everywhere, so you can't really dig or rototill any place for a proper garden.
What we do is grow mostly inside, or even outside in containers. I can fill the containers with good growing soil, and then out them where we get the most sunshine.
Even growing in containers, it is hard for some of the sun-loving veggies to get enough sun during the day because of all of the shade from the trees; but we do get some veggies this way. I have been thinking that maybe just growing perennial fruiting shrubs and small fruit trees might work better; but we always enjoy the home-grown fresh veggies so much that we keep trying to get them to grow and produce.

 

I am a backyard farmer but I have to admit the growing vegetables to save on money is not really worth it unless you do it in large scale for purposes of selling. I have planted some crops in our garden and the most recent is corn. When it was time to harvest, we had a lot of corn ears that we couldn't eat so we gave more than half to the neighbors. When we harvest our banana, the same thing happens, we also give away to neighbors instead of going spoiled (we cannot eat 200 bananas in 2 days). But in fairness to the gardener, the garden is a source of relaxation and the mere fact that the plants are yielding harvests then that's already a big consolation.

 

Though I'm an avid fan of gardening, I cannot afford to grow vegetables due to space crunch of city living. However, I do have a small terrace garden where I plant seasonal flowers, orchids, cacti etc. I do grow some herbs like mint, coriander, basil, Oregano, Parsley which I could use fresh for my kitchen. If in future I could mange a bigger space, I would definitely go for a vegetable garden.

 

I grow year-round in a 20' geodesic bio dome in Ohio where it can get gloomy and depressing during the winter months. Ever since I started growing plants year-round in my greenhouse / dome winter is a busy fun season for me and my family. Nothing beats going from 10*F snow /slush mess to a warm 70*f space filled with green and organic veggies in the middle of winter!
My kids have spent most of their life surrounded by green year-round and my 'little helper' niece enjoy playing in the soil to grow food or just to enjoy greener! It can turn your life around to grow at any age.

 

I love of having a garden so that I could have a sustaining supply for my favorite vegetables. My problem is I don't have a space for I live in a small city. A week ago, I started planting celery on a pot. Every time I bought a bunch of celery, I cut its part with roots and have it planted. By days, it sprouts a new leaves. As for now, I am still on the process of experimenting them. If it works, I would buy additional pots for it.

 

I live in a rural area and our home is sorrounded by empty spaces which we have invested in banana grove. There are are some gardens which access a small river where we cultivate napier grass. We also grow some other horticultural crops like butternuts.

 

My front and backyard are a disaster. To be honest I don't even feel like having a garden in this situation I'm living in, a garden should be taken well care of. Since I am renting the house I feel like I am not supposed bother fixing up anything or making it pretty when it was already a complete disaster if it was mine I wouldn't think twice to do so. Besides, the backyard is shared and some people walk across and throw trash I don't feel like anything is my own here. The only fruit that survived was a single melon.

 

I don't have a yard so it's difficult to have a garden though I do call the plants filling the balcony my own garden. I want to one day have a garden but to provide food for myself and my family. I wouldn't want it just for the nice looks even though it would be nice. You can also plant some that are good for you health such as the aloe plant.

 

We have two large gardens. We allow a professional organic farmer to work on them for profit. However, with the recent drought in the southeastern USA, farming has been tough. Note, he has been relying on irrigation from a nearby creek to water one of the fields.

 

I totally agree with OP that every family should have their own garden. I think nowadays lack of space is one of the bottlenecks in gardening. Then we can look for possibilities of container gardening, wall gardening, hydroponic methods etc. Where there is a will there is a way.

Gardening is my passion. I got a nice vegetable garden in the backyard and also got a fruit/vegetables container garden on terrace. Gardening in the early morning hours keep me fresh and active for the rest of the day. It gives some sort of exercise too. I got a number of fruit trees around which includes guava, various mango trees, different types of berries, rambutan, mangostein etc., I really enjoy watching them growing, flowering and bearing fruits.

 

We also have a garden at home. In fact, both the front and back yard of our house has a lot of potted and planted plants. We mostly have flowers, but we did have some fruits as well, but now they have died or they don't seem to bear fruit anymore.

 

Living in the city it is a little harder to have a big garden do to limited space. I have a patio and a small backyard but every year I plant a small garden. I usually plant tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, onions and a few carrots.

I plant the tomatoes, zucchini and bell peppers along the fence line, and I also use large terra cotta pots for the onions and carrots. So far they have all done well. The herbs such as basil I grow in the house.

Fresh vegetables are always the best. And anyone can grow a garden with limited space, spring is around the corner start planning your garden now.

 

I also live in a large city and while I do have a bit of a garden, it's certainly not really big enough to grow my own fruit or veg in there. I have a lawn and a few bushes and plants that I can look after, but that's as far as it goes.

A lot of people that live near me, especially the older ones, have a small allotment at the back of the neighbourhood where they can go and tend to fruit and veg and have a couple of greenhouses, but that's as much as we've got around here and the waiting list for one of those patches is massive anyway.

 

Yes I am living in an area with lot of open land around my house. I have plenty of fruit trees in my garden besides flowers and other useful trees like Neem and eucalyptus trees. I am not sparing enough time for my garden as I used to do but my wife is very active and she loves spending almost all her spare time there.

 

Really nice to hear that. But I heard that eucalyptus trees are not suitable for home gardens as it absorbs a lot of water from earth. We were having a large number of eucalyptus trees on the banks of a river here. Finally Government had to cut down all trees as they were gradually killing the river by consuming a lot of water.

I think neem tree is a must in the front-yard. It purifies air around us and also a remedy for many diseases. I was having a neem tree, but a few months back it died of some fungus attack in monsoon.

 

Our area produces a large quantity of paper so a large number of eucalyptus trees are found here. In fact the forest department plants them on regular basis and if anyone in private sector wants to grow them he can get the eucalyptus plants for free of cost. Yes the plant is harmful for the land as it increases quantity of sand in the earth so most farmers are now avoiding it. I am also planning to sell the present lot in next two tears and them grow mangoes which is safe and more profitable.

 

I have my own garden because I am blessed to have a backyard and I also have a rooftop so I have my own container garden as well. I love growing my own vegetables and meat. I also have rabbits because they populate very fast. Their droppings are good fertilizers and they also provide me meat.

Recently I discovered sweet potato leaves are edible. (Do not mistake sweet potato from potato, potato leaves are poisonous.)

I love how dual purpose sweet potatoes are. They can provide me a starchy root and green leafy veggies as well.

 

I have a small piece of land in thee front yard and backyard. I use front yard for growing flowering plants and backyard for growing vegetables. Rose is my favorite flower and I have over a dozen varieties of roses in my garden. I also enjoy growing vegetables and I have more than a dozen vegetables in my kitchen garden.

 

I have just a small balcony that can't cater for a bigger plantation and at the moment I have limited variety of plants like chillies, basil, coriander. However, I am planning to add few more that will provide beneficial.