Some great tips for Urban Gardeners - Spring is here! Let's do some timelines of our gardens :)

Seeing these time lapse photos of plants growing like this one has always been fun so I figured I would give it a try this year. It's April 1st and winter is still clinging to the air around here in New England but I just couldn't wait to get the garden going.

Those are wild blueberry, strawberry and some asparagus up front there but as you can see they are much to shy to show any green still. The rest make up about a third of what we plan to plant this year, hearty stuff that cn take the low temperatures, hopefully ;)

Soon these pots will be sprouting broccoli, cabbage and some tough root vegetables that can benefit from an early start. By this time next month I'll have my flowers and tomatoes going but for now they will have to live in this homemade terrarium. This is a good method if your in a colder place, if you can safety put your seedlings on the radiators around the house, your Urban Garden will get a head start and a nice timer. While the heat is on it is too cold to plant tomatoes and peppers. You will get a rainforest effect while the furnace is running and it will dry up when it is warm enough outside to plant. You will notice a good stretch of decent weather, especially if the temp drops a lot at night, because the condensation will stop forming so densely inside.

I always say that you need to feel your environment and plant in your space when it is ready. It takes some time but your garden may be different than the next door neighbors depending on lots of variables, elevation; soil; tree cover; orientation to the sun; etc. and relying on a calendar or almanac is just the first step in getting to know your space so feeling it out can be key to success.

One thing I've learned by doing this over the last decade though is that it is still best to keep some thick plastic sheeting handy because even the best of us can't predict late frosts and hail storms. Balancing the risk of getting the garden in early and fighting nature can be half the fun though, depends on if the plants are for commercial use though I suppose.

For me, it is all about taking this washed out city yard and bringing some life and color back into it. Healthy food and a great hobby make it worth my time for sure. Now that the plants are in it's time to fix the lattice, trim the grape vines that tear it down, throw some fresh paint around and get ready for summer!

Thanks for checking this out, I'll be out there doing my thing and making this tiny nook a little jungle. The next post will be vibrant and hopefully shock a few people on how different it looks ;)

Please feel free to link any of your posts in a comment and show off your garden too, I'd love to start sharing ideas and get some feedback when things begin to grow.

If you looking for a fun read, please consider my new book The Coming Cataclysm which is available on Amazon now.