No backyard? No problem! Even if you don’t have a great deal of room to grow, you can still raise some of your own food.

Part of the beauty of gardening is that it can easily be adapted to nearly any scale or circumstance with a little ingenuity. Here are 5 ways to raise fruits and vegetables when you are short on space.

Indoor Gardening

With a south-facing window and maybe a grow light, indoor gardening can be a simple way to get started. Herbs are extremely easy to grow indoors, and raising your own will enable you to avoid the heavy metal contamination rampant these days, particularly when it comes to basil, oregano, and thyme.

But herbs are by no means the limit. Numerous growing kits make it easy to raise anything from microgreens to mushrooms.

And then there are potted plants. Dwarf citrus trees thrive better indoors than out in many parts of the United States.

Container Gardening

If you have at least a balcony or patio, new options open up to you. Tomatoes, peppers, blueberries, and just about anything without a deep taproot lend themselves well to container gardening. And this need not necessarily take the form of growing plants in pots. Options range from deep fabric containers designed specifically for potatoes to adaptations of the Square Foot Gardening box.

Community Gardens

Your community, whether that is a small town or an independent living community for seniors, may offer plots or planters for residents. While your growing space is usually necessarily limited in such scenarios, intensive gardening methods can help you nevertheless produce a sizable yield. As an added perk, educational programs of some variety are frequently part of the package.

CSAs

Some CSAs allow members to help tend the garden to cover part or even all of the cost of a share.

Borrowed Gardens

To a prospective green thumb with a little determination, there are frequently unexpected opportunities. Maybe a relative could use a little help in his or her own garden. Maybe a nearby farm has an apprenticeship program. Joel Salatin once wrote about a woman who created a small business tending gardens for her urban neighbors.

The options are endless, particularly when it comes to raising a few vegetables. Pursue whatever opportunities are currently available to you, and you will probably find that your garden grows beyond your wildest dreams.

Helpful Resource

Super-Small-Scale Farming
More ideas for raising plants and animals when you are short on space.