5 Tips to Grow More Food in Small Yards BY STEVEN BIGGS WWW.FOODGARDENLIFE.COM
Don’t grow food by the book! Be creative and have fun as you explore techniques to harvest more from small spaces. And, most importantly, be prepared to fail occasionally as you figure out an approach that best suits both the yard and the gardener. There’s usually more than one way to successfully grow something. Below are five tips to get you started. 1. Keep Tree Roots at Bay
3. Repurpose Unused Paved Spaces
Root competition can be a big challenge for food gardeners in older neighbourhoods with large trees. Trees are beautiful, but they compete with food crops! Some gardeners dig tree roots from their gardens every year...but there’s another way to co-exist with your trees and hedges. When growing a crop near a big tree or beside a water-guzzling cedar hedge, don’t waste time constantly digging out roots. Instead, grow a container garden above the root-infested soil. If tree roots grow up into the container (and they sometimes do,) put a patio stone underneath your container.
If you have more driveway than car, you have growing space going to waste! It’s not necessary to remove a driveway to cultivate the space. Containers are a great option. We’ve turned half of our driveway into a tomato patch every summer with a temporary straw-bale garden. If you have a deck, patio, or balcony, see if there is space to fit in containers with food plants.
2. Weave Food Plants into an Ornamental Landscape Ornamental or Edible? It does not have to be an either-or decision. If your landscape is ornamental, weave in edible plants. • Many berry bushes have ornamental appeal (e.g. serviceberry has beautiful fall colour). • Asparagus ferns looks great at the back of a perennial bed (harvest the asparagus spears in the spring, and then let the tall ferns add texture to your perennial garden through summer and fall). • If you grow annual flowers, think about weaving in edible flowers such as nasturtium and calendula.
4. Tier your Garden using Containers Think of your garden as a layer cake. Plants that might be out-competed or shaded in the bottom layer just need some help to get more light or more space for their roots. You can do that by growing them in containers, right in the garden. You’re raising up the plants, making another layer in your garden and squeezing more plants into it. 5. Cheat on plant spacing Challenge the recommended spacing on seed packets and plant labels. I always sow carrots, lettuce, and beet seeds more densely than recommended…and then thin them out as they begin to grow, enjoying baby carrots, lettuce, and beets as I do. Steven, is a speaker at GISC 2021 Virtual, please check out their session live or on-demand with an event registration.
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