Finding Space to Garden

How much space do you need to grow a regenerative garden? Not much. Any little bit of land will do. And you don’t even need to “own” it. You can become a steward of land in many ways. 

  Many people have all the space they need already in their suburban yard. A regular lot usually has plenty of space to grow a ton of vegetables, keep small livestock such as chickens, ducks, quail, or rabbits for eggs or meat, herbs for tea and medicine, flowers for beauty, and calorie-rich crops such as beans, squash, and potatoes. 

In our experimental year of eating all local food, we grew as much as we could on our own 9,000 square foot lot. With relatively little existing gardens, we ramped up production in one year to harvest over 1,600 pounds of food between us and our tenants downstairs. 

While this was not enough to supply all our food needs, it was a huge percentage of what we ate through the year. And our gardens were not maxed out. The apple trees and other fruit trees hadn’t even started producing yet. Our berry bushes were young and not yielding much. 

The limiting factor in being able to produce more land was not space, it was time to build it out, manage it, and let it mature. 

After our year of eating local food we continued to grow and eat much of our food from our garden. We harvested more fruit and berries. And everything was much easier because we knew how to do it. 

You don’t need to own property in order to garden and develop a relationship with land. I have been renting now for 8 years and have developed extensive gardens, planted fruit trees and berry bushes, and many other perennial plants. My landlord is delighted with how I am stewarding the land. 

Many of my students as well have been able to grow gardens at their rentals. Sometimes the landlord will even provide infrastructure such as fences! It is one of my greatest desires that gardens at rentals become so in demand that they are an asset to the landlord. Wouldn’t you rather move into a house with established gardens, fruit trees, and berry bushes? 

If you live in an apartment building, you may be able to get permission to build a community garden on the grounds that would benefit all the residents. What a great way to bring people together and get to know your neighbors!

When I worked for the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, Texas, there was a community garden at a low-income housing project in East Austin where we taught children's gardening classes. Many of the elderly residents would come out as well, excited to see things growing and share their knowledge with the younger kids. The kids were so excited to see how vegetables grew and many of them tried different vegetables for the first time. 

I will never forget watching a very small girl devouring some kohlrabi, and an elderly neighbor just chuckled and said, “There must be something in that kohlrabi that baby needs. The body knows!” These are the kinds of amazing opportunities that arise when we think outside the box. 

If you can’t build a garden where you live, there are still lots of options for growing food. Some of my students have gardens at their work. One woman works at a long-term care facility where she got permission to grow gardens with the residents. It brought them so much joy to participate in growing things. 

Another young student living on a boat grew peas in his car. He reported that the peas got fried in the sun and was going to try something that liked a bit more heat like peppers. The car was a very successful greenhouse!

He also did some guerilla gardening, which is planting things in public places without permission such as a tomato plant in a grocery store parking lot decorative bed. Or planting sunflowers on a grassy embankment on the side of the road. This is not always so much about getting a harvest of food but making the world a better place by adding beauty or making a statement that food is free. 

You might also try alleys, or other places nearby your house that are currently growing weeds. Start tending the weeds or replace them with food plants. 

Churches and schools often have gardens that are underutilized, looking for someone with time and energy to get their hands dirty. If there’s not one already, you can ask if you can start one. 

I have also noticed many unused gardens in neighborhoods. It would be worthwhile to knock on their door and ask if they would be up for you growing food in their garden in exchange for some of the produce. The owner might be an elderly person who doesn’t have the ability to garden anymore, but who would be delighted to see it go to use. 

There are many urban farming businesses that use this method to farm other people’s backyards! It is a wonderful model that brings people together around food. 

And finally, there are community gardens in many cities and towns which have plots available for rent. Some of my first gardens were in community gardens and they can be wonderful places to meet other gardeners and grow community as well as produce. 

In Permaculture we say that the yield of a system is only limited by the imagination of the designer. Yields are more than just food. Think in terms of all the benefits you get out of your garden. Beauty, medicine, relaxation, enjoyment, connection, craft materials, etc. Yields can be physical, emotional, or spiritual. 

When we are limited in space it forces us to be more creative and efficient. We can grow climbing things like pumpkins, cucumbers, grapes or kiwis up fences, trellises, arbors, or the side of a shed. Trellises can be arched over walkways with the fruits hanging down to pick as you walk through. 

Interplanting is planting compatible vegetables in close proximity to each other, sometimes planting fast growing vegetables with slow growing vegetables so as one is harvested it makes room for the other. A polyculture has many plants growing in it and is intensively managed through harvesting to make room for things to mature. It takes an experienced eye to get the spacing right, but it is definitely the most efficient use of space. 

You can get more crops in one season in the same space by using succession planting, where you plant something new when you harvest. Even in my short summer in my warmest microclimate I follow my early spring greens with warm season crops like tomatoes and squash in late May. 

You can also use bed designs like keyholes that maximize bed space instead of pathways. 

Keep in mind that you don’t have to do it all! Don’t have room for a nut tree? Trade with someone who does. Gone too much to have chickens? Team up with a neighbor and make a chicken co-op. This really makes so much more sense than each person having their own chickens. Plus working together with other people is what binds us together and creates meaningful relationships and community. In what ways can you team up with your neighbors?

It doesn’t take a lot of land to have a transformational garden. But it does require more than a raised bed or some pots on the balcony. These can be great places to start, but for real transformation to happen, you have to go deeper into the relationship with nature and soil.