WHERE CAN I GROW MY OWN FOOD?
Where can I grow my food? Wherever there is soil & there is space! Simple answer, but let’s explore this further…
- Space Considerations -
You can grow within your backyard, the front yard, on your rooftop (if it’s flat), within community gardens, on other people’s property that they rent out, within the indoors near a window (if there is enough light), etc. There are many possibilities as to where you can grow. Look around at what you have available to you!
Check out the blog on Inspiring Gardens to see how others are growing in their areas that they have available to them.
- Soil Placement -
You can essentially grow plants wherever you can place soil. Here are some examples:
In the ground
Within raised beds
Within containers - whatever you can put soil into! Like pots, Tupperware, coolers, pails, fabric bags, wood crates, etc. People get really creative with this!
- Sun Considerations -
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Plants require sunlight to grow. The location where you plan to grow your food needs to have sufficient sunlight throughout the day to support plant growth. The amount of sunlight a location gets changes throughout the year, as the sun’s trajectory in the sky changes seasonally. Which means that the sunlight exposure changes between spring, summer, fall & winter. For instance, a windowsill might get lots of sun exposure during fall & winter months when the sun’s trajectory is low in the horizon. But the same windowsill might get only indirect sun exposure when the sun’s trajectory is high in the sky during the spring & summer months. This windowsill can easily grow sun-loving plants in the fall & winter months, but those same sun-loving plants may struggle to survive without sufficient sun exposure in the spring & summer months.
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Ultimately, it’s important to grow your food in the appropriate amount of sunlight to see the best results! Knowing which locations receive optimal sunlight takes time to observe the patterns of the sun. If a location receives plenty of sunlight today, keep in mind that this may change when the next season rolls around. And vice versa, if a location doesn’t receive any direct sunlight today, this doesn’t mean it won’t receive sunlight during another season. Just plan accordingly based on the sun requirements that the plants need for growing! Some plants require direct sunlight for extended times during the day, while others need indirect sunlight during the day.
