No backyard? Bring the garden indoors
A few containers, some light and your crop will be sprouting in no time
For city-dwellers, having an outdoor green space is a luxury — not everyone has access to balconies let alone backyards. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start growing your own herbs or veggies, even the smallest area has potential. Whether you live in a cramped city condo with a tiny balcony or only have a windowsill to spare, you can enjoy fresh, healthy food grown in your own home.
“You can grow a lot even if you don’t have a backyard,” says Isaac Crosby, program director and urban agriculture specialist at Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto who runs workshops to teach people about urban gardening.
“I want to get people interested in gardening,” says Crosby, also known as Brother Nature to those who watch his videos, “Gardening with Brother Nature,” found at @evergreen_brick_works on Instagram. Crosby is passionate about showing people how to use things from their home to garden. Whether it’s upcycling containers for planting or regenerating vegetables from food scraps like green onions and bok choy, Crosby says there’s a lot you can do to get started, without spending a lot of money to start a garden.
Container gardening, even if it’s a windowsill, is the way to go, says Crosby. “A lot of plants need that four to six hours of full sun, but if you don’t have that, you can still grow many plants with a grow light.”
Once you’ve assessed your space and picked a spot, you’ll need to decide what you want to plant. “I always tell people to grow what you eat. If you eat tomatoes, find a tomato plant that doesn’t get too big, like a Tiny Tom, which is about 10 inches tall. You can grow herbs, leafy greens, even cauliflower and broccoli. You can grow just about anything, as long as you have enough light. The key is the sunlight,” says Crosby.
There’s no need to buy new pots and trays. Look in your home to see what you can upcycle, says Crosby who recycles everything and has grown tomatoes, carrots and even lettuce in two-litre plastic soda bottles. “Just make sure you wash it out properly to get out any residue, you don’t want that inside your soil as it could cause some sort of bacteria. Don’t forget a drainage hole at the bottom. If there’s no drainage you’ll end up with a soupy mix of soil. So, you’ll also need some sort of pan for it to drip into.”
As long as you have good quality potting mix you can grow herbs and other small vegetables in just about anything. The most inexpensive way to start a garden is with seeds but if you don’t want to wait, order herb and vegetable seedlings from your local garden centre. Plantables.ca will ship organic, garden ready plant seedlings and kits to your door — everything from starter kits of 12 plants ($48) to whole garden kits with more than 30 plants ($125).
Evergreen is selling a “Plant Positivity” starter kit that includes six vegetable and herb seedlings, seeds, soil enhancer and compostable pots ($50).
Microgreens are also a great option, says Crosby. “They are great to grow because you can grow them in any type of container and are a good way to have some greenery in your apartment. A shallow container works, and with some seeds you can get away with only two to three hours of sunlight.” Dirk Kalff and Florence Hughes started experimenting with growing microgreens when the lockdown began.
“We discovered they are pretty easy to grow and taste good in salads or as a topper for a sandwich.” Now the Toronto couple are selling kits that come with enough seeds and soil to grow two five-by-eight-inch trays of microgreens ($18 to $20), including local delivery or porch pickup (microgreenery.ca).
“We just want to give people seeds that you can sprinkle on soil and get a crop,” says Kalff. “Growing your own food is kind of a satisfying thing … you don’t have to have a garden, and if you’re in an apartment, then it’s particularly cool because you can put it on a windowsill and within a couple of weeks you’ve got food.”
Common varieties of microgreens include peashoots, sunflower and radish. “It’s not a substitute for a whole head of broccoli,” says Kalff, “but per gram it’s really intense nutritionally and also with flavour.”
Like Crosby, Kalff encourages people to look in their recycling bin for containers and trays for planting. “We don’t want to bring any more plastic into people’s homes. You can use anything really, as long as it can take an inch or two of soil in it,” says Kalff who recommends using a waterproof container like a recycled aluminum pie plate, with a drip tray underneath. Microgreens need daily care. The soil must be kept damp — not dry or soaking wet. “It’s not like a plant where you can water it and leave it for a week,” says Kalff.
Another easy-to-grow option is sprouts, which germinate without soil, take up very little space and can be grown on a counter. Depending on the variety, they can be ready in five or six days, says Christopher Wong, who owns Young Urban Farmers, a Toronto company that designs edible gardens and sells products including organic sprout kits and indoor mushroom kits (fungaea.com).
Growing sprouts is similar to growing microgreens, says Wong. “You have very young plants that you eat, but they are very small, just the initial seed leaves and so you are getting all of the nutrition and the flavour that is in the seed itself.” While microgreens are grown in soil, sprouts are grown in water, don’t require sunlight and the entire sprout is eaten whole, including the root.
In addition to growing your own food, gardening can contribute to our well-being. “If you are stuck inside your apartment but you’ve got things growing, at least you’ve got some sort of nature inside. Take time to care for a plant and it’s going to nourish you in the long run.”
“Growing your own food is kind of a satisfying thing … and if you’re in an apartment, then it’s particularly cool because you can put it on a windowsill and within a couple of weeks you’ve got food.”
DIRK KALFF MICROGREEN GROWER