The question of whether or not to start gardening in a cramped space is familiar among city dwellers. However, space does not necessarily have to restrict one from growing things or pursuing urban farming.
There are a plethora of vegetables and fruits that you can choose from or begin with even when you are short on space. Here are some of them:
Bok choy
This vegetable is typically cultivated in cool weather, although it may also be sown a few months before the dry season begins.
Erlinda Manganti, a stay-at-home parent, successfully produces bok choy from seeds using containers with fertile, well-draining soil.
Read: Stay-at-home mom grows bok choy and other vegetables in her urban garden
Behind her abundant vegetable harvests are natural inputs that keep her crops healthy and lush. She uses rice water twice a day and grass-clipping tea once a week, in addition to concoctions like Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) and Oriental Herbal Nutrient (OHN).
Read: Make your own natural fertilizer at home
Manganti only started gardening using her kitchen scraps. She sold what she produced and used the money to buy vegetable seeds and loam soil.
Her motivation for gardening? To feed her family with fresh food while also reducing their reliance on market produce.
Leafy greens
Leafy greens like lettuce and kale can grow in home gardens, too. Limited spaces can be maximized by using vertical and horizontal gardening methods.
This is what Helen Joy Icogo Cejar has been doing for years in her 52-sqm urban garden.
Different varieties of lettuce and kale thrive in her rooftop and front yard. She uses styrofoam and wooden boxes as well as plastic containers to grow them.
Cejar’s attempt at gardening speaks nothing but passion and courage. She daringly pursued her gardening dream even if it meant leaving her work and closing down a business to build an edible garden that can supply healthy meals for her family, especially her 94-year-old mother.
With her bravery and enthusiasm for food production, she was able to make money out of it, too.
Read: Urban gardener quits job, builds small garden business in Davao Del Sur
Lemons
Lemon is the crop of choice for a retiree in Trinidad, Benguet.
Arnel Biado began with cultivating ornamentals but eventually turned to food crops due to the pandemic.
Biado grows Meyer lemons, variegated lemon, American lemon, and dayap on his rooftop. Lemon plants, according to him, should be positioned in an area that receives full sunlight since they perform best under these conditions.
For him, variegated and American lemons are harder to grow compared to other abovementioned varieties.
Besides lemons, he also grows other fruits and vegetables such as Davao pomelo, calamansi, figs, cherry tomatoes, native ginger, and garlic.
Read: Retired district manager enjoys growing fruits and vegetables on his rooftop garden
These are only a few crops that may be grown in the comfort of one's home. There are a variety of ways to optimize confined growing areas as well, including container gardening.