Garden With Ernest

So can you grow veg without your own garden ?

You can grow vegetables without owning a garden, even in tiny spaces and in built up urban areas. There are so many ways you can grow vegetables and other edibles plants in a limited space.

Here are some of the methods and means that you can use to grow your own healthy veg. After all, not owning a garden should not stop you growing your own greens. 

An allotment is a place you can garden, without owning a garden.

An allotment is an excellent way to grow lots of different types of edible plants. They are also great places to make new friends and meet like-minded people, who are normally happy to share their gardening knowledge with you. 

Did you know that the council is required to provide allotments where they are needed? https://www.greenwoods.co.uk/article/theres-a-lot-to-know-about-allotments/

Community gardens are great places to learn how to grow vegetables.

They also run free horticultural courses teaching people how to grow food, in community gardens. 

Renting or sharing privately owned land to grow veg

Another possibility of how you can grow vegetables without a garden, is by renting or sharing a privately owned garden.

This benefits both the gardener and the garden owners, who may be too elderly or too busy to manage their own gardens. By sharing their plot, they don’t have to watch it being overrun by weeds. 

There are online communities such as https://www.allotme.co.uk/ where it is possible to find private gardens that you can rent.

Without a garden you can still grow vegetables at home

You can grow vegetables in and around your home, even if you don’t have access to a garden 

Most veg plants will grow in pots. Choose plants that are well suited for your location. For example, most Mediterranean herbs such as, thyme and basil love a hot sunny spot. Green leafy vegetables will tolerate much more shade. 

You can still grow food sustainably in pots

• Buy second hand pots or reuse old containers that you find. 

• Save seeds or take cuttings.
• Use organic fertilisers and compost, or make your own.
• Plant flowers to attract bees and beneficial insects.
• Don’t use pesticides.
• And recycle all your waste responsibly.

If you have no garden and no accessible outside space, you can still grow edible plants indoors.

You can grow vegetables in your house

Growing miniature salad leaves indoors is easy. You can have a year round supply of fresh , nutritious greens that you can add to all your meals. 

Grow sprouting seeds and microgreens in your home

You don’t need access to any garden to grow sprouting seeds and microgreens. You don’t even need soil, or fertiliser. And you can grow shoots and seedlings without direct sunlight.

They also grow quickly, so you can be eating mini green vegetables in less than a week.

There is a huge choice of seeds that you can grow, so you can have your own mini micro garden indoors. These tiny veg are packed full of vitamins and minerals. Plus they grow all year round.

Surprisingly versatile, you can add these tiny vegetables to almost any meal.

30 Of The Best Microgreens Recipes Ideas

And now let’s take a quick look at how we can grow more plants indoors without soil .

An introduction to hydroponics and aquaponics

Plants don’t need soil to grow.

Plants normally grow in soil. But they can grow without any compost if they are given water and nutrients . Hydroponics is one method of growing plants without any soil. Although it sounds very complex it doesn’t need to be. 

Hydroponics in your home

Hydroponics is a great option for people who want to grow a bit more veg but don’t have any outside space. It can be high-tech, like an automatic, ebb and flow set up.

What Is Ebb And Flow Hydroponics?

Or very low-tech. Such as a simple self watering system, that uses a wick to water the plants.

Basically, hydroponics is a method of growing plants that Is very adaptable. In fact, it can fit into any space. With additional LED lighting you can set up a hydroponics system anywhere in your home. It can be simple and homemade, or you can invest in an ultra-modern fully automated system.

So hydroponics can be an ideal solution for people without a garden. Although you will have to add fertilizer to feed your vegetables. With aquaponics fish are kept in the water to feed the plants.

An indoor aquaponics garden

In aquaponics, you feed the fish, they produce waste that is full of nutrients for the plants. In short, plant roots filter and clean the water before it returns to the fish tank . Nitrifying bacteria lives in the water, and this friendly bacteria converts fish waste into natural fertilizers for your veg.

There are benefits to gardening, without a garden

Gardening indoors does have many benefits. For example, you are not restricted to gardening by the weather or by daylight, or the seasons. Also, you have far less pests to deal with. 

Plus you have really fresh food at your finger tips.

Further more, home gardening relieves stress, boosts creativity, productivity, and focus, and promotes recovery. Plants can also improve air quality. But unlike traditional outdoor gardens, indoor vegetable garden systems can grow plants 365 days a year 

“Gardening can do a world of wonder for your mental health, but with one in eight households in Britain having no access to shared or private outside space, why not bring gardening indoors and grow your own food? “

Aimée Grant Cumberbatch

30 MAY 2020

So whatever method of gardening you choose, there is always a way that you can grow vegetables without a garden. 

Growing food doesn’t have to cost the Earth, and you don’t even need to get your hands dirty.