As I sat down to write this post, my four-year-old expressed some interest in what I was doing. I explained that some people don’t have grandmas with lots and lots of land where they can plant gardens (like my four-year-old does). Some people don’t even have backyards. So where, I asked him, do you think those people could plant gardens?
“They could build a planter box. And put it in their bedroom.”
Um, sure.
But assuming your bedroom doesn’t get a full six hours of sunlight (or that you don’t want your tomato pots draining onto your carpet) is there a solution for yard-less would-be gardeners? You bet, says BuzzFeed’s Rachel Sanders, in her aptly named article,
“How to Grow Herbs and Veggies on Your Fire Escape.”
Sanders’ article takes small-space gardening to the next level, telling us where to put and how to arrange those containers, as well as what and when to plant for maximum yield. Divided into 17 handy tips, her list includes considerations that commonly get overlooked—everything from “does my landlord allow plants on the balcony?” to keeping mint from staging a hostile takeover of your property. (Heads-up: she also talks about squirrel-proofing your garden, which accounts for the naughty word in the article.)
Not yet convinced that there’s such thing as an urban green thumb? We’ve written here before about
container gardening and
ideas for re-purposing junk as garden real estate.
And here are a few more resources that will have you fairly running to your nearest home and garden store.
Before you start your fire escape garden, make sure that it is legal to do so in your city. Several cities have fire codes and laws prohibiting fire escape gardening.
Whether your backyard looks more like
Green Acres or Eva Gabor’s beloved penthouse view, you can grow a lovely and tasty garden this season!
