Thinking outside the backyard garden

One of the best things about growing your own food is that you can do it anywhere. My backyard garden doesn’t have the optimal soil or hours of sun (6-8 hours is needed for many vegetable plants), so I have had to improvise. My front yard has a southern exposure and is ideal for growing food. I just replaced my rotting wooden beds with bright new ones that have extra depth and width. I only grow bush variety plants in the front yard and mix in flowers to the beds to improve the curb appeal. Some vegetable plants will require netting when fruiting to prevent critters from stealing the ripe produce, but that is a whole other blog topic!

If you do not have in ground beds, another option is Grow bags. They are inexpensive to buy, and you can place them anywhere that you have good sun. I place mine in my backyard where it gets the most sun during the day and have a temporary fence of netting surrounding the area to keep the animals out.

The best thing about grow bags is that you can put them anywhere! They can be placed on a deck, patio, or balcony. Other benefits include using optimal potting soil, minimal weeding, the ability to move the bags if a bad weather event pops up, and easy clean up at the end of the growing season.

One of the most rewarding vegetables to grow in grow bags is potatoes. Learn more about growing potatoes from this post What are “New” Potatoes? – EdibleGardenGirl