No Backyard? Here Are Some Ways to Garden This Spring

Variety = great container garden, and more tips via Olive Design.

Not everybody in the neighborhood has a back or front yard garden to play around in. So what do you do with a small space? Or no space?

Mary Van Vliet of Olive Design has a great post on her blog about container gardening for anyone with access to a porch or terrace. There is a list of tips from neighbor and gardener extraordinaire Tracey Hohman, especially handy for any first-time gardeners. Mary also notes that she’s had luck with sprinkling cayenne pepper around her plants to keep the pesky squirrels away.

Church Ave Edible Garden by Sustainable Flatbush, on Flickr.

For those who don’t have a place for containers, we’ve got several community gardening options:

• Get your hands dirty at the Sustainable Flatbush Garden Open Hours on Saturdays from 9:30am to 12:30pm. To join the Garden Team, contact Sheryll Durrant at sheryll@sustainableflatbush.org. They could also use composting volunteers!

• Beyond their regular composting open hours, Compost for Brooklyn often hosts events that could use volunteers. Check their site or email compostforbrooklyn@gmail.com to find out ways you can get involved.

• The Flatbush Community Garden and the East 4th Street Community Garden are full for the year, but keep them in mind if you’re interested for next year.