In recent years, people have been rediscovering the delicious flavors, added nutrition, and simple sense of accomplishment that come with growing their own fresh vegetables and herbs. Maybe you’ve experienced the exquisite taste of a truly red and ripe tomato, fresh off the vine, and you’re not about to go back to store-bought. Or maybe you miss the days when your grandparents served up a feast of sweet corn, cantaloupe, and radishes for summertime meals, and you want that again. The thing is – our grandparents may have had a lot more room for such a garden. Urban living tends to shrink our available space, and it might seem like a harvest of that size is impossible. Fortunately, with an understanding of how different kinds of vegetables and herbs grow, what they really need to survive, and some creativity thrown in, we too can conjure big yields from small spaces.
If you’re intrigued about the possibility of turning your patio, balcony, or tiny yard into your own miniature veggie patch, we hope you’ll join us on February 17th at 10 am and 2pm for Small-Space Gardening, the next seminar in our Urban Homesteader series. We’re excited to offer this topic in cooperation with the folks at The Big Garden, local community gardening advocates and experts at coaxing impressive yields out of tight urban settings. In this seminar, Cait Coughey and Stephanie Finklea from The Big Garden will introduce you to some interesting and creative ways to make fresh edibles happen for you and your family, even if you can measure your available space in inches and feet rather than yards and acres.
Come learn how to create an efficient planting calendar – using approaches like succession planting and companion planting – to make the most of each space within your garden and allow for more crops throughout the season. For example, did you know that you can get more out of your space just by pairing two or more vegetable varieties with different light requirements or maturity rates in the same location? Shade-lovers like lettuce will benefit by sitting right under taller, sun-loving varieties like tomatoes. Or fast growers like radishes can sprout, grow, and be ready to harvest before slower crops like peppers start demanding more space.
In this seminar, you’ll also learn about topics like bio-intensive planting, container gardening, and other ways to maximize yields within a small space. Cait and Stephanie will also share expert tips about healthy soil preparation and other basic organic gardening techniques to help ensure a successful crop.
Nothing beats the taste of fresh food, especially when you’ve grown it yourself. If you agree, join us and our friends at The Big Garden to find out more. Just give us a quick call at 402-496-0700 to let us know you’ll be here.
