WEBVTT

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Hi, I am Luay, and I am an urban gardener

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and food grower in Toronto, Canada.

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I am going to give you a tour of my

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backyard space, as well as my allotment
pot,

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and show you exactly how I grow food for

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myself and for my family in this small
space.

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(music playing)

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Growing food in an urban setting can be

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challenging because we don't have that

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much space to grow the food we want.

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Therefore, I have supplemented my raised

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beds with containers, and I use a range

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of different materials: plastic, grow bags

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wood, and terracotta containers.

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In these right here as you can see, I

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I have got some peppers as well as some

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eggplants growing along side my raised 
beds.

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One of my favorite ways to grow herbs is

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in these small terracotta pots.

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The reason for that is they are portable,

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so I can bring them in to the kitchen

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whenever I am cooking, snip off what I

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need, and bring it right back outside.

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This is also a great way for someone to

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start growing their own food if they

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do not have a backyard. You could do this

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right on a balcony.

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Another innovative way to take advantage

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of your small space is to use rain

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gutters as a way to grow food.

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These are galvanized steel rain gutters

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that I will grow radish in during the

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spring, bush beans in the summer, and

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radish again in the fall.

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In addition to growing vegetables in my

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backyard, I also have a few dwarf fruit 
trees.

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This one right here is a pear tree.

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It is a dwarf so it stays small.

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I also have peach, as well as plum.

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(music playing)

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I started growing food in this backyard

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space about five years ago, and it has

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grown considerably year after year.

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I built these cedar-raised beds that house

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my flowers, my brassicas, as well as my

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zucchinis, tomatoes, and melons.

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Another great way to take advantage of

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your small space is to build raised beds

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like this right here.

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This is a waist high salad bar in which I

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grow lettuce in the spring and fall,

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and during the summer I will grow some

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bush beans in here.

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What's great about bringing this raised

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bar higher up is that it reduces the pest

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pressure so that it is a lot easier to

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maintain throughout the season.

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Something new that I am trying for the

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first time this year is actually growing

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carrots in these blue storage totes.

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As you can see these carrots are very

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healthy and very happy.

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When space is at a premium, grow 
vertically.

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This is exactly what I am doing with my

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melons right here.

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I built this do-it-yourself trellis

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system to hold my melon vines.

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As you can see they are growing up,

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trellising on their own.

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What this does is liberate the space down

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here in the raised bed and allows me to

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grow other crops like herbs, beats, and

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lettuce, and other shallow rooted crops.

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In addition to growing food in the

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backyard, I am also growing it in the

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front yard. This front porch right here

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has several containers of herbs as well as

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other vegetables like this pepper.

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I am growing oregano, parsley, mint,

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sage, and other crops as well.

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Flowers, obviously, are very important in 
any vegetable garden.

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Still in the front yard I am growing a

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plum tree here. The plums are still green,

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but they should be ready in about 4 
weeks time.

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Many crops can be grown in containers,
including potatoes.

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I have several potato bags here and they

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will be ready for harvest in about 4
weeks time.

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That is it for the front and back yard,

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now let me show you what we have going at
the plot.

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(music playing)

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Another way for city dwellers to grow

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their own food is to join a community

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garden, or if your city offers it, an 
allotment plot.

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I have an allotment plot in addition to my
backyard.

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I am going to give you a quick tour of

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what I am growing here at this allotment 
garden.

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Since I garden 100% organically I have to

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find ways to protect my plants from

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different kinds of pests.

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This bed right here I have got some chard

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and some beets, and in order to protect

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these crops from leaf miners I use a

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tutu tulle that I actually bought from a 
fabric store.

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This prevents the moths and the flies

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from laying eggs in the first place.

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One thing I am growing at the plot this

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year is about 75 heads of garlic.

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I have already picked the scapes off of

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this bed, and I will be picking and

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pulling the garlic in the next 3 to 4 
weeks.

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We are also taking advantage of vertical

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growing at the allotment plot.

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This trellis here will house our cucumbers

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and cucamelons, and the cucamelons are

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already starting to climb.

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I am also growing quite a few different

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types of brassicas at the allotment plot.

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This cabbage here is pretty much ready to 
pick.

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Another staple for every home gardener is

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chili peppers and sweet peppers.

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I have got quite a few in this bed here,

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including this rezha macedonian, which is

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almost ready to pick.

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I am also growing about 28 different

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varieties of tomatoes at the plot.

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Some of them have already set fruit, and

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others are ready to pick.

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Well that's a wrap on our garden tour
today.

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I hope that I have inspired you to grow

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your own food on your balconies, in your

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backyards, or at an allotment plot in 
your city.

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(music playing)