Growing Food in Urban Small Spaces - Urban Gardening

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.

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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.

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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)