Type of garden: yes, you can live in an apartment and have a garden too!

First off let me say that SIZE doesn’t matter! Some people think they can’t have gardens because they live in an apartment or don’t have a big backyard. Not true, as long as you have sun and the recommended room for root growth listed on the back of your seed package then anything is possible!

Now that you've figured out your location you need to know how much you want to grow and what type of garden will ft your needs:

  

·         Containers

·         Raised beds

·         In the ground

If you’ve got the sun then all that’s left is room for roots to grow and luckily you don’t have to dig into the ground to get that. Many flower pots provide more than enough room for many types of vegetable/fruit plants to strive.

Container gardening (or apartment living!):

Container gardening in flower pots is your friend, they allow you to grow what you want because they come in all different sizes (garage sales are great for finding lots of flower pots and not breaking the bank) and you can move them around to better fit their sun/shade needs

 

I'm not ready to commit to tearing up my yard just yet:

Container gardening in flower pots or wooden boxes is right for you. No tearing up your yard and if you decide you don’t like it, all your grass is still there when you remove your pots and boxes

I'm ready, let’s tear this b***** up!:

You've decided you're in this for the long run and you have the luxury of your own yard, so straight into the ground or raised beds is the option for you. I tore up my grass because I knew the perfect spot and that I would always want this. But even then trying to break up 2 feet of workable soil is a pain in the rear so I only broke up about of foot of soil and went the raised bed route of building up bricks and bought the rest of my garden dirt, mulch, and organic compost





this is my raised bed garden!!

Start small if you’re not sure- nothing is worse than feeling overwhelmed and you blame gardening as to much of a chore instead of your need to overcompensate! Just kidding, I love you!

Soil is also determining factor with garden location. To wet and nothing will grow so don’t choose a place that floods or stays puddle-y hours after a rain.







Location

A garden must have at least 8 hours of full sun in order to thrive but that doesn’t mean every plant needs 8 hours of direct sunlight. READ YOUR SEED PACKET!!

Corn will always need full sun no matter what but tomatoes can get sun burnt when starting to harvest if they aren’t growing under their shady leaves- it happened that my tomato leaves weren't as full due to a late transplanting mishap and most fruit stayed green on top...now I know to grow them near my zucchini because those leaves get huge and can help protect the fruit from sun damage

here is a garden in full sun but notice how the plants to
right can help shade plants to the left as the sun rotates

As important sun is, some of your plants may also require some shade. Lettuce is horrible in the heat so I grew them in a 4hr sun/4hr shade location and every morning I had some fresh crisp delicious lettuce to pick- wait a few more hours to pick it in the afternoon and it’s wilted and bitter.



starts the morning off in full shade

plants to the right that need full sun get it right
away and have it for the longest throughout the day



Shade can come from a wooden fence, side of your house, or just other bigger plants where their leaves can do all the afternoon shading (like zucchini, dang those leaves get huge!)

fence shade



house shade



had to throw in a quick pic of huge zucchini leaves,
whatever is behind that will surely be protected!

Soil will also play an important roll!!

Composting containers, what works for you?

There’s one to fit every gardeners needs.

Buckets:

find a bucket with a lid for daily scrapes and throwing them straight into your garden or collect scrapes every couple of days to throw into your bigger compost bin later. Keep these on the kitchen counter (if they're cute enough!) and you plan on dumping scrapes daily or keep it under the kitchen sink if you’re dumping scrapes bi-weekly.

 

Mesh cages:

Really good for aeration but difficult to mix. And it was harder to get the compost  out when it was ready to use because ready to use compost normally sits at the bottom of your bin! And I found it took longer to heat up, maybe I wasn’t using enough greens but I found a closed container to work the best

 

Closed containers:

They’re helpful because they have lids to keep birds or other animals at bay. I also found mine heating up faster and retaining moisture better then my cage. Very easy for me to turn the compost because it wasn’t spilling out everywhere and they have extremely convenient doors at the bottom that you can open to remove the composted material as needed.

 

Rotating Closed containers:

These are the most expensive but by far the easiest to use. You throw everything in, close the lid, and turn the crank to mix it up. Then every few days head out there to turn the crank and add some water and crank it up again. No pitchforks, no tillers, no sweat!

 

Side note: I enjoy the extra arm workout I get

from turning my compost so I did not opt for this container

I like to recycle or I'm cheap and I don’t want to buy one:

Get creative and find leftover items you can use around your house or just dig a hole in your backyard!

Don't forget to water your Pile- think damp sponge!!

Know your Last Freeze Date

It's important to know your last freeze date to determine when/if you can start your seeds indoors.

If you're growing tomatoes or corn you have to make sure there is absolutely no threat of frost of your seedlings will damage will other plants like lettuce and kale thrive in the cooler conditions, hence the difference between a cool weather crop and a warm weather crop

Find your last freeze date here

Reading the back of your seed packets will tell you the type of

conditions your plant needs to thrive

example from back of cilantro seed packet

COMPOSTING FOR BEGINNERS

- be ready in two weeks!

Every garden needs three essential nutrients to thrive:

·Phosphorus

·Nitrogen

·Potassium

Yes you can go to your local nursery and buy the supplies but why do that when you have everything you need already at home with Composting.

Composting is the most cost-effective garden amendment around, it improves soil texture and encourages garden-friendly visitors like earthworms and beneficial microorganisms. But best of all it's easy and provides all 3 of these nutrients for a better tasting garden.

The earth provided the nutrients to grow the fruits and veggie’s we eat and the oxygen we breath. We eat those fruits and veggie’s, we rake and mow our lawns so instead of throwing all those leftover scrapes away you should consider throwing them into a bucket and making your own compost.

In order for composting to best benefit your garden it’s best to work it into the soil at least 2 weeks before planting.

And if you properly prepare your scrapes ahead of time your homemade compost can be ready in a little as two weeks!

Compost is essentially 4 different ingredients broken down over time:

Greens, Browns, Air, & Water

Follow the links below for more information

2 Composting myths: here you can learn about Greens & Browns

Maintaining your Compost: here you can learn about Air & Water

What container is right for me?: there is one for every gardener!

Compost ready in two weeks: here you can learn how to be 'compost ready' in time for your spring plantings

Properly Maintain your Compost

4 necessary pieces to every Compost pile

Browns and Greens:

A good mix of browns and greens in your compost pile is about 4:1 brown (carbon) to green (nitrogen) and this will ensure a nice dirt smell

Air:

keep aeration by turn regularly with a pitch fork (some compost bins will have a rotate feature)

Water:

keep your compost pile moist like a damp sponge or it will take longer for it to break down, to much water and it will turn slimy

Compost ready in 2 weeks!

You can have ready to use Compost in as little as two weeks!!

Smaller items: Shred or cut up your food scrapes/yard waste into small pieces, the smaller the item the faster it breaks down

Rotten Food: rotten scrapes means your food has already started the process of breaking down, if your scrapes have rotted just wear kitchen gloves and/or cut up your items outside

Heat: Compost breaks down when it heats up, the smaller the area and the more enclosed the faster your items will break down. If it's not heating up you may need to add more greens.