Imitchy...gardening when you don't have land

Abcxyz has dandy ideas.

I understand your questions quite well, Imitchy...I was an apartment dweller for years...and I felt limited. Sometimes I have day-dreamed of ghetto folk just walking with their families, away from cities.

I look at land and nature when I travel, however I travel...always have. I have this sort of 'nesting instinct' where everything I've ever heard about 'making do' springs to the forefront.

I saw a large wooden packing case when I was about seven, and I created an image of burying one in the ground, carving steps down to it, in the dirt, putting in a tiny wood stove and a chimney and having a little home of my own. Peter's home with the Lost Boys, underground, inspired me no end. Of course they were always venturing out to have adventures and to worry the pirates.

In apartments, I began to see things from the outside...what was available, nearby.

When I read of one elderly lady who had her 'garden' in mason jars on her kitchen counter, sprouting, my mind soared. There's a Sprouting forum here on CureZone.

I heard of a fellow who walked to his rented patch in a nearby field, daily, most of the year. His children grew up with high standards of quality produce.

If you ever get near the films of Eliot Coleman and his wife Barbara Damrosch, your ideas on gardening will never be the same again. He has written books, and lectures.
http://www.fourseasonfarm.com

Read everything you can find on Eliot and Barbara's composting, from the wild! Excellent! They do it in 'boxes' of straw bales...where the straw eventually composts, too. The layers they gather from the wild are, brown, dead, plants and leaves; green plants and leaves; a couple of shovelfuls of dirt (for the micro-organisms); and a sprinkle of water...repeat. Keep the whole loose and light, lots of air spaces.

Squashes and things love to grow on compost heaps.


I saw a TV spot on an East Indian couple who gardened on tables on their building's rooftop. They had some roofing to some of their tables, for some shade...and they sunk unglazed round clay pots into the soil, to fill with water occasionally. The water seeped through the porous clay and into the soil. Osmosis? The only part of the pots that were visible were the narrow necks that stuck out above the soil...for filling.

Do get to your local gardening clubs and organic growers' association...and just listen, and look. You won't believe your ears and eyes!

And, find patches of grasses and weeds that have been neglected...especially in the application of chemicals. That long-abandoned house or lot is treasure. Even a single square foot of weeds, on a slope too steep for dogs and cats to pee upon, could grow a few pea plants, or a squash. Every mouse for miles will come to nibble on every vegetable they can reach...proof positive of the value of your produce.

In the Bahamas, and elsewhere, people wrap a section of the trunks of food trees with sheet metal...so the rats can't climb. The rats came from ships...usually by scurrying down the ropes that tied the vessels to the docks. Have you ever noticed the metal discs placed around those ropes to keep the progress of rats under control?

Luckily, there are plants, bushes, and trees, perfect for every spot and climate. And, we don't have to 'invent' them...just arrange for the appropriate amount of water.

Plant among grasses and weeds...the soil micro-organisms, and the weeds ability to protect, are THE most important things.

Some plants grow all winter, under the snow, creating their own little 'greenhouse'. Chickweed makes a fine winter salad, they say.

Read all you can on 'hot frames', too. Manure creates warmth under old windows tilted to a certain angle.

I saw a brick wall angled to catch the sun, for espaliered fruit trees, trained on supports against it. On the other side of the wall, small fireboxes had been sunk into the wall, to warm it for the cool springs...an early start.

I once saw an ornamental cherry tree blooming on January 1st. It was in the V created by two wings of apartments. The V was open to the south-western winter sun, I believe, and in a milder climate...Vancouver, B.C.

Walk...and find opportunities to talk to homeowners where you see something you like. Join people you admire. Work for landscapers, and commercial greenhouses, nurseries...even small bits of info you pick up will stimulate your creative juices.

Listen to gardeners, and help them sometimes. And have a line you drop anywhere, to catch attention...like, "Pansy petals are tasty," if they are. Every budding gardener at a cocktail party will drift in to talk to you. :D

There is a condo complex in San Francisco I read about, where the paths and landscaping have been planted with edibles, maybe for the children who walk there. Some of the homes have gardens on the balconies built into the sloped roofs.

What a fine way for the landlord to enhance the value of his property, and attract people with similar interests.

There are special hanging pots where tomato plants grow out of the bottom, though I can't see why they wouldn't drape over the side of ordinary pots and baskets hung up, or in slanted racks, just as well.

Garden shops usually have 'lofters' which are squeeze-bottles with long plastic tubes, hooked at the top, for watering...in the early morning. Drip lines are hoses where the 'drips' can be placed at convenient spots to water all day, or when you turn the tap on.

There is always a way.

Enjoy!

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