This year I am taking my container garden a little more seriously. This time I want results, and in order to get them, I have to do research. Luckily, two informative books fell into my hands, Fresh Foods from Small Places and The Urban Homestead. The first one, Fresh Foods, is not the end all be all small garden book, but is a great start and has truckloads of resources. Thanks to this book I got my little garden pests under control, organically, and have begun properly fertilizing my plants. I'm currently using Fox Farms Big Bloom liquid fertilizer and will hopefully be working incorporating some seaweed into my top fertilizer. My next step in proper veggie gardening is to get or build one of these self watering containers that allow for soil ventilation and bottom root watering. (The Fresh Foods from Small Places book has a really good section on building your own. The instructions in the book are better than anything I've found online.)
The other book, The Urban Homestead, is an excellent book that expands upon a lot of the subjects touched upon in Fresh Foods. For example, they have a whole section on fowl and give information about not only raising hens, but also ducks and quail. I didn't know raising ducks was an option, but whenever I get a yard, I'm going to get some ducks out there. Urban Homestead also has a larger section on food recipes that Fresh Foods, with guides on making cheese, jam, soup stock and even moonshine. The end of the book dedicates itself to being fully self-sufficient with info on energy, sewage and transportation. Some of the info leans toward national emergency situations, which doesn't bother me, but it might bother others. The only thing that I dislike about this book is that a lot of the awesome ideas/instruction are for people with a yard. Fresh Foods was equal, if not more leaning toward, people who live in apartments with no space or ground for themselves. So, it seems that for this particular time in my life, Fresh Foods from Small Spaces is for the now and The Urban Homestead is for future planning.
The video at the top of this post is about how the queen has allowed the palace's garden space to be used in growing a victory garden, something that hasn't been done since the war. The video makes mention of the Heritage Seed Library, where you can buy organic seeds and become a "seed gaurdian", helping to cultivate varieties that are near extinction. Unfortunately it is for UK residents only, but those outside of the UK can partake in their organic gardening information.
Hope you find this information helpful and that you find ways of growing your own food in spaces big or small.









