Small time gardening on the cheap and easy

Soil Bag gardening is an easy way to have some delicious veggies without tools or large yard. Just buy composted soil in bags, lay the bags out, open them up and plant the seeds. Don't forget the water and sunshine and you are good to go!!! For more on Soil Bag Gardening see: http://urbangardenproject.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/no-space-for-raised-beds-no-problem-soil-bag-gardening/



You don't have to buy a lot of composted soil if you want to do bag gardening. In other countries where there is very poor soil, they've developed a system for composting in a bag and then planting in the compost. Here are a few photos to give you an idea:

This is a rather nice looking one. You can grow out of the small holes. Just compost soil, leaves, grass clippings, food scraps, newspaper (avoid color printed pages). Keep it in a sturdy bag. When ready, poke holes in the bags, poke seeds in the holes, and there's your garden!!



This one gets the job done, too. These can be done in yards, on patios, balconies, just about any place they can get sunshine.
Be sure to use sturdy bags or double or triple the bags to hold the soil. Soil can become quite heavy and push on the bags.

http://www.cowfiles.com/gallery/grow-it-global-ugandan-farms



Here are some additional sites for information on Soil Bag Gardening:

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4396/try-soil-bag-planting-for-no-dig-beds

http://containergardening.about.com/od/vegetablesandherbs/ss/LettuceBag_4.htm

http://containergardening.about.com/od/vegetablesandherbs/ss/LettuceBag_4.htm

No equipment? Not much space? Try no till beds

If you live in an apartment or are physically limited create a raised bed table. These items can be purchased or created from scrap wood.
These raised beds save your backs, knees, and space. Made with care or store bought tables can look attractive and enhance your deck or patio. If they look nice, they should be ok for an apartment. Wheels on the legs make them easily movable.


You may think that you can't grow much in these raised beds but a 2'x 6' table gives you 12 square feet of garden. Follow the square foot garden philosophy and you will be able to feed your family some great veggies!

If this is too much work for you, check out my September 3, 2009 post for some cheap, easy (very easy) gardening solutions. Still too much work, I also have a link to Local Harvest to find CSA farms and local farmer's markets for good fresh veggies, close to home.

Instructions for Life (or recipe for cooking up a good life, as my husband says)

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
   
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
   
3. Follow the 3 Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.
   
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
   
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
   
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
   
8. Spend some time alone every day.
   
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
   
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
    
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then, when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
    
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation of life.
    
13. In disagreements with loved ones deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
    
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
    
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
    
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
    
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

This is not mine but passed to us by an unknown source and held for years.