#GrowFoodTogether : Tips and Ideas for Growing Your Own Food

Growing food can take many forms that can be made to fit into any space, whether that be a windowsill, patio, or backyard. Whether you are a first-time gardener or have been growing for years, let’s #GrowFoodTogether this Spring!

Here are some of my favorite ways to grow food:

Windowsill Microgreens

This is a mix of red and green daikon radish microgreens.

Microgreens sprout within a couple days and can be ready to harvest within a week. Microgreens come in a lot of different varieties like arugula, kale, mustard, cilantro, and my favorite radish. My favorite shop to buy microgreens from is Johnny’s Seeds. I use flat plant containers with plenty of drainage, but any pot of any size will work. I suggest a potting or compost mix of soil, I use compost so that after harvest I can mix it in with my other soil and reuse it. Generously sprinkle the seeds on the surface of the soil, water, and lightly cover with a dusting of soil. Keep the soil moist to slightly damp, how often you water will depend on the environment and type of soil; a good schedule for microgreens can be to water lightly every other day. I harvest my microgreens on an as-needed basis by snipping them just above the surface of the soil, this allows any young sprouts to keep growing. Rinse and enjoy! We eat microgreens on their own as a salad or as a garnish for sandwiches, wraps, soups, or mixed in with other greens.

Container Herbs & Edible Flowers

This container includes dwarf curry, lingonberry, french thyme, and rosemary surrounding a lemon cypress.

Earlier this month I participated in an event called Container Wars, the object of the competition was to put together three containers in less than 30 minutes with a few twists added in. The biggest challenge of the competition for me was not having enough edible plant options to mix into my containers, such as herbs. My goals is to have as many plants (not in my shade garden) to have a culinary or medicinal purpose while still looking pretty. For me, containers are like an outdoor spice rack, both literally and figuratively. I love collecting spices and pack as many as possible into our spice cupboard; similarly, I love packing as many plants as possibly into a container because they can always be pruned back or transplanted to another location. Packing containers full of both perennial and annual herbs and edible flowers is functional and aesthetic. Herbs are aromatic and containers often are placed around sitting or walking areas, thus adding to the experience of the garden. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives, parsley, cilantro, calendula, lavender, and chamomile are some of the staples in my container garden. This year I’m adding more edible flowers, like bachelor’s button, hyssop, and echinacea, and trying new herbs, like curry. Some herbs can be tricky to start from seed, so a trip to your local nursery can get you some solid starts, plus then you can look at their texture and smell their fragrance before committing. Think about your spice cabinet and culinary style when picking out herbs, you’ll get far more use out of them if they are already something you love using in the kitchen. When arranging a container, I like to think about having varied heights, mixing in shades of greens, adding plants that will flower and color. I like to mix perennials and annuals so that I can be sure to have some year-round herbs and plants growing. Remember, containers can go in any patio, porch, living room, or garden...so it doesn’t matter what size space you have when it comes to container gardening.

Vertical Gardening

Sunset runner beans growing vertically on a trellis and then following twine to create a canopy over the walkway to the greenhouse.

This method for growing food is becoming more and more popular as we continue to look at creative ways to maximize the use of space. Some of the most common vertical gardening methods is to grow strawberries in towers and troughs. Trellising plants, like cucumbers and squash has also been a bit trendy but I usually save my large trellises for peas, beans, and cucamelons, and use smaller trellises to support cucumbers and other smaller plants needing support. I have yet to dive into vertical gardening, but if you check out my Pinterest board or do a quick google search, there are a lot of fun ideas out there and it’s a great way to grow food in small spaces.

Raised Veggie Beds

This is a mix of cedar and galvanized metal raised bed garden I built for a client.

Last but not least, well, for today, is the beloved raised beds. I’ve grown directly in the ground and in beds, and raised beds are by far my favorite. Raised beds are great for growing veggies because the environment and amount of weeding can be controlled more easily, plus they add dimension and interest to a garden. I grow everything from celery to lettuce to beans to tomatoes to herbs to edible flowers in raised beds. The type of beds I use depends on what I want to grow and what design style fits the area. I have begun using galvanized metal beds for plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant that like the soil to stay a nice, warm, even temperature. I use lower, shallow beds for lettuces and lower, deeper beds (meaning the soil depth and health goes at least a 10-12 inches down) for root vegetables, like carrots and parsnips (radish, beets, and turnips don’t need as much depth but good, deep soil is always going to be good). Choosing your material for your raised beds depends on what you want to grow, how long you want the beds to last (e.g. cedar will last longer than fir), the growing space, and the design you want (if you’re unsure about this last part, let me know, I love to envision and design gardens!). Like container herb gardens, think about the veggies you currently have in your kitchen and like eating. Starting with what you already know you love to eat will make growing in and harvesting from those raised beds even better!

NOTE: Remember, good soil makes all the difference! When starting new beds I layer the ground base with cardboard (this helps keep weeds out plus will naturally compost down), add my own compost, layer with dried leaves and grass clippings, then fill to the top with compost from our local nursery. Over the season this will compound down and give you space to add mulch as needed, especially in the fall. Good soil will support a healthy, bio-diverse environment while giving your plants plenty of the nutrients they need. For established beds I add a layer of compost each spring and then mulch as needed.