Friday, May 8, 2009

Have you heard of Vertical Gardens?

Living in the city poses some problems for me. It's great to be able to walk to many great restaurants and have a convenience store within a five minute walk. But, I grew up in New Hampshire and have always enjoyed gardening and eating fresh from the vine. I remember when I was little my folks and I started a small garden in the backyard and it was all very exciting to watch grow and eventually harvest at the end.

DC Rowhouse has a pretty big yard for a city place. It is about 45x15, with about 525 square feet of grass. Technically, we could plant a pretty nice garden back there. There is a family who has created a whole garden on a 1/5 acre of land and even sells their organic produce to local restaurants. I think there is a video on their site Path to Freedom, which talks about the whole idea. It's truly amazing to see what they are accomplishing. They even have animals! Check out their yard:


It's clear we can make an amazing garden in our space. The problem is we like the open space to entertain. It's like having a whole other house in the warm weather. However, I also love the idea of having a bigger garden. Right now we have herbs, tomatoes, and some strawberries growing in containers on the deck. My solution? To start a "vertical garden". Go ahead and head to google images and search for "vertical garden". It's pretty outstanding. Check out this pic from Treehugger:



I could easily build two vertical gardens on our deck. Smith & Hawken (I know, two posts in a row with them in it!) have a pre-made one:


Though, I feel like I could build something for less. What do you think? Have you tried to garden vertically?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a great idea!

bardia said...

I have been playing with vertical gardens for a few months, mostly experimental ornamental artsy pieces. But I have been amazed at how plants will survive anything. You can check out some pics on my new website: hangingcity.wordpress.com

I can also help you if you need it, not for money or anything, just gifting my time and a little knowledge I have gained. But I would like to see more of these popping up.

Anonymous said...

Anything people can do to grow their own food is a great step in the right direction!! Love it!!

Barbie said...

Love any ideas to sustain our ability to grow our own food no matter the situation

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