Room for a Garden

How much space do you need to garden? What counts? It’s one of the latest questions buzzing around the garden world since NPR covered a study on urban gardening in Chicago. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used Google Earth to find over 65 acres dedicated to food production — or at least what looked like food production.  These acres were patched together from abandoned lots, backyard, side yard, and roof top garden spaces.  And in just two short years the acreage has doubled.

But what counts as a garden? How much space do you need or, maybe the question should be, how do you make space for a garden?

I love the idea of creating a garden out of galvanized containers, gutters or troughs. Maybe a bit of room can be maximized with a dash of creativity and possibly the materials on hand? You may not become a self-sustaining homesteader overnight, but supplementing your and your family’s needs is pretty cool. And, as far as I’m concerned every garden of any size can be made to be beautiful.