How to Garden When You Can't...
(This is a post I wrote for my blog back in 2014 but it is still just as helpful today. I am very glad to share it for all the apartment-bound gardeners out there, and I encourage you to comment with your own cool ideas and solutions as well!) I could also call this blog post, "Gardening Saves your Sanity" because it does. I would go crazy if I couldn't put my hands down into the cool soil and tend for something precious to grow. I live in an apartment, so I realistically cannot garden. Landlords don't tend to smile when they find that you have torn up the beautifully manicured lawn to plant "stuff in the dirt". But as I said, I NEED THIS! So I must thank my mother for being persistent about finding a community garden in the area. I was able to secure a raised bed at the garden at the last minute for which I am thankful! Also, we have a large section of potatoes that we planted as a community. This part is beautiful because nothing builds bonds between strangers like back-breaking work. Also, the garden offers classes. In our last class, we were able to make bag gardens for our homes. NOW this is something anyone can do, so I must share it. You can do this even if you rent! So without further ado:
HOW TO GARDEN WHEN YOU CAN'T: The garden bag-
Purchase a bag of soil-less media, any type will do.
Place the bag where you will have your "garden".
Poke holes in the bottom of the bag.
Then slice a large square out of the top of the bag.
In the now large patch of dirt, feel free to plant approximately 6 or 7 plants keeping them a hands width apart.
VOILA! A GARDEN IN A BAG. Repeat as desired to have all your delicious goodness at home!
A Bag Garden with Greens for Salad and Onion Bulbs Planted on the Right.
I Ended Up Having One of These on Each Side of the Apartment, but You Could Line up A Bunch On A Patio or Balcony.