Hi, I am Luay, and I am an urban gardener
and food grower in Toronto, Canada.
I am going to give you a tour of my
backyard space, as well as my allotment pot,
and show you exactly how I grow food for
myself and for my family in this small space.
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Growing food in an urban setting can be
challenging because we don't have that
much space to grow the food we want.
Therefore, I have supplemented my raised
beds with containers, and I use a range
of different materials: plastic, grow bags
wood, and terracotta containers.
In these right here as you can see, I
I have got some peppers as well as some
eggplants growing along side my raised beds.
One of my favorite ways to grow herbs is
in these small terracotta pots.
The reason for that is they are portable,
so I can bring them in to the kitchen
whenever I am cooking, snip off what I
need, and bring it right back outside.
This is also a great way for someone to
start growing their own food if they
do not have a backyard. You could do this
right on a balcony.
Another innovative way to take advantage
of your small space is to use rain
gutters as a way to grow food.
These are galvanized steel rain gutters
that I will grow radish in during the
spring, bush beans in the summer, and
radish again in the fall.
In addition to growing vegetables in my
backyard, I also have a few dwarf fruit trees.
This one right here is a pear tree.
It is a dwarf so it stays small.
I also have peach, as well as plum.
(music playing)
I started growing food in this backyard
space about five years ago, and it has
grown considerably year after year.
I built these cedar-raised beds that house
my flowers, my brassicas, as well as my
zucchinis, tomatoes, and melons.
Another great way to take advantage of
your small space is to build raised beds
like this right here.
This is a waist high salad bar in which I
grow lettuce in the spring and fall,
and during the summer I will grow some
bush beans in here.
What's great about bringing this raised
bar higher up is that it reduces the pest
pressure so that it is a lot easier to
maintain throughout the season.
Something new that I am trying for the
first time this year is actually growing
carrots in these blue storage totes.
As you can see these carrots are very
healthy and very happy.
When space is at a premium, grow vertically.
This is exactly what I am doing with my
melons right here.
I built this do-it-yourself trellis
system to hold my melon vines.
As you can see they are growing up,
trellising on their own.
What this does is liberate the space down
here in the raised bed and allows me to
grow other crops like herbs, beats, and
lettuce, and other shallow rooted crops.
In addition to growing food in the
backyard, I am also growing it in the
front yard. This front porch right here
has several containers of herbs as well as
other vegetables like this pepper.
I am growing oregano, parsley, mint,
sage, and other crops as well.
Flowers, obviously, are very important in any vegetable garden.
Still in the front yard I am growing a
plum tree here. The plums are still green,
but they should be ready in about 4 weeks time.
Many crops can be grown in containers, including potatoes.
I have several potato bags here and they
will be ready for harvest in about 4 weeks time.
That is it for the front and back yard,
now let me show you what we have going at the plot.
(music playing)
Another way for city dwellers to grow
their own food is to join a community
garden, or if your city offers it, an allotment plot.
I have an allotment plot in addition to my backyard.
I am going to give you a quick tour of
what I am growing here at this allotment garden.
Since I garden 100% organically I have to
find ways to protect my plants from
different kinds of pests.
This bed right here I have got some chard
and some beets, and in order to protect
these crops from leaf miners I use a
tutu tulle that I actually bought from a fabric store.
This prevents the moths and the flies
from laying eggs in the first place.
One thing I am growing at the plot this
year is about 75 heads of garlic.
I have already picked the scapes off of
this bed, and I will be picking and
pulling the garlic in the next 3 to 4 weeks.
We are also taking advantage of vertical
growing at the allotment plot.
This trellis here will house our cucumbers
and cucamelons, and the cucamelons are
already starting to climb.
I am also growing quite a few different
types of brassicas at the allotment plot.
This cabbage here is pretty much ready to pick.
Another staple for every home gardener is
chili peppers and sweet peppers.
I have got quite a few in this bed here,
including this rezha macedonian, which is
almost ready to pick.
I am also growing about 28 different
varieties of tomatoes at the plot.
Some of them have already set fruit, and
others are ready to pick.
Well that's a wrap on our garden tour today.
I hope that I have inspired you to grow
your own food on your balconies, in your
backyards, or at an allotment plot in your city.
(music playing)