How to Garden Without a Yard
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lettuce, broccoli, radishes and peas are starting to show. the cats are fighting over the 6-year old catnip container which self-seeds. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)
How to Garden Without a Yard
There's an assumption that to grow some of one's own foods one has to have a lot of yard. Not true. With a little planning, you can grow the basics from lettuce to cooking herbs right where you are. Here are some ideas on how to do it:
🌿 1. Container Gardening
Use flower pots, (food grade) buckets, grow bags, and repurposed containers on your porch, patio, balcony, or windowsill. Encourage pollinators by spraying plants with sugar water (1 part sugar to 2 parts water) to lead them to your plants.
🪴 Great for tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, radishes, strawberries and cats. There's more than one catnip-filled pot on that deck but they both want the same one.
🌞 2. Vertical Gardening
Grow up, not out! Stack planters, use trellises, wall pockets and hanging baskets.
🌱 Great for cucumbers, pole beans, peas, herbs, strawberries and indeterminate tomatoes (the ones that keep growing and delivering)
🍽️ 3. Kitchen Scrap Gardening
Regrow green onions, lettuce, celery, and garlic from your refrigerator in water or soil.
♻️ It’s free and fun for kids!
🪟 4. Windowsill Gardening
A sunny window is prime real estate. Grow herbs, baby greens, and micro-greens indoors.
🌞 South-facing windows are best.
🌱 5. Microgreens & Sprouts
Tiny space, fast harvests! Grow trays of micro-greens and sprout seeds in jars.
🥬 Harvest in 7–14 days and pack in serious nutrition.
🛒 6. Grow in Grocery Bags or Totes
Grow potatoes and salad greens in a reusable grocery bag. Just add soil, drainage, and sunshine.
🧱 7. Raised Beds or Garden Buckets
If you have a small yard or side strip, build a small raised bed—4x4 feet can grow a lot. Five gallon paint buckets with holes in the bottom are also excellent gardening options to get you started.
📏 Square-foot gardening is a great method for beginners.
🚲 8. Community Garden Plots
No land at all? Look for a local community garden. Cheap annual fees, shared water, and garden friends included.
One more suggestions: Companion Planting
Even in small spaces, mixing flowers, herbs and veggies together can boost growth and deter pests. Basil around tomatoes, onions around lettuce, carrots and chamomile. If they get along on a plate they will work well together in a garden!
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