gardening in an urban landscape

We don’t have an ideal situation for growing our own vegetables. Despite living in the sunshine state, for most of the year, our tiny courtyard doesn’t get any sun at all. We have grown vegetables in the past, but the only months our yard gets sun, is the off season for growing here in QLD. We do however have ideal conditions for growing a good crop of moss.

And we have a generous covering of some kind of fern…

…with a couple of happenstance lettuce amongst the green.

Our neighbours also have an interest in growing vegetables. They have gotten around the lack of sunlight by growing their veggies in pots on the roof of their shed. Nothing like a bit of ingenuity, although we think that the rooftop vegetable garden may be the reason for the police sitting across the road with binoculars pointed our way. I’m no expert on what the wacky weed looks like, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t look like bolted lettuce.

It made me realise that we had some prime growing real estate that was being under-utilised: our fence. In fact, we could probably have a whole hanging and climbing garden along that fence, despite the lack of sunshine elsewhere.

Container gardens attached to the fence is nothing new, in fact I had forgotten that my parents had small, plastic beer drums wired to the fence palings with strawberries growing in them. And hanging pots of miniature roses. The plus side of container gardening is that you can grow herbs and vegetables even if you’re renting, and you can take your garden with you.

You don’t need a large yard in order to have a garden. You don’t even need a yard that gets much sun. All you need to do is think outside the square, which is what my neighbours reminded me with their shed-top garden.

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Have you read these posts?

1. vegetable gardening guide
2. Gardening For Free Part One. Seed Saving
3. Gardening For Free Part Two – Taking Cuttings
4. Gardening For Free Part 3 – Getting Dirty
5. Garden Update – Eating The Harvest