Because (like many of you, I suspect) I’m on a budget and I rent the home I live in, I can’t build an extravagant gardening infrastructure on my property. That doesn’t keep me, however, from dreaming of bigger plots and collaborating with my community on gardens. Here are some recent posts and articles I found inspirational in one way or another:
Margaret Roach reminds us that, even if we live in climates without year-round growing seasons, there’s still time to put certain cooler-weather plants in the ground. Check out her list for seeds and seedlings that it might not yet be too late to plant.
Slugs have attacked my strawberry pots, so
I’m experiencing a shortage of strawberries. Barbara Ganley’s video on how to make French-style strawberry jam, however, makes me want to buy bushels of strawberries from a local farm.*
Inside Urban Green provides tips on how to transform your ceramic pots into sub-irrigated planters–without having to drill an extra hole in the side of the pots.
The thriving community garden movement in Oakland is both metaphorically and literally in full bloom. Oakland’s efforts to bring local food to communities that lack even grocery stores has brought into partnership some really great organizations. Definitely click through to find out what they’re up to.
Thinking of growing the scale of your gardening, and making the transition from urban gardening to urban agriculture? You might find some inspiration in Inhabitat’s post about the top 5 urban farms in New York City.
Meanwhile, urban farmers in Los Angeles are trying to save South Central Farm. Visit their site to see what you can do to help.
What urban gardening and urban farming news and techniques are you finding interesting these days? Feel free to leave links (even to your own gardening sites) in the comments.
* That fledgling directory of Treasure Valley (Idaho) farms emerged from a student project in my public history course. Their Facebook page is still a work in progress, but the project is the brainchild of some amazing young women, so I encourage you to “Like” their page so you can stay posted about their work.
Image credits: Good greens by seanpants, and used under a Creative Commons license; strawberries by @joefoodie, and used under a Creative Commons license.
[Readers, please ignore: Temporary info for Technorati blog claim: YS4HJ86RYUCA ]