Have you ever dreamed of growing your own food? You do not need to live in the countryside for this to happen, looking for more sustainable options has become very popular. This practices not only brings benefits to your pocket, but for the environment as well.
Urban gardening was born as a necessity. During the 20th century, the countries in war could not depend on imports, that ir why people were starting to grow their own food at home in the cities. Even though today it is not a necessity, it brings a lot of benefits.
What are urban home gardens?
They are a way of growing vegetables, aromatic plants and even fruits, but in any corner of a city house. It is very common to see them in balconies or rooftops, so even though you live in a tower this is the way to go for you.
One of its functions is to capture CO2 produce by the cities and live from sunlight. Its shape and size depends on how much creativity you have, because they can be adapted into any space, including walls. Despite the fact that they are usually small, with good care they can provide food for up to two people.
Benefits oh having a home garden
Health improvements is one of the benefits of urban gardening. Growing your own food, guarantees freshness and quality without any pesticides and fertilizers. This has a very positive impact in health.
At the same time, this improves your mental health. Growing and urban garden becomes a hobby, it helps you to relieve stress and it is a way of doing something new and entertaining. Also, it is a space for everyone at home to share and participate.
This is an amazing learning experience for children. It is a great way to teach them environmental awareness and sustainable practices for a better future. Also by taking care of the garden, they learn a series of values.
Environmental impact of urban garden ir very significant. They help to reduce heat island effect thanks to water thermal inertia found in plants, this makes the garden to observe heat and regulates temperature.
If you are planning on living in a condo or you al ready do, this is a very good idea to all together. It helps with group integration and encourage sharing with others in a fun and educative way.
How to maje a homemade urban garden?
Before you begin, you should decide in which space of your home you are going to make it. This could be in the interior, your yard, balcony, or even in your terrace. This is crucial to define the next step, which is choosing the container that suits your situation. it could be:
- Pots
- Hanging pots
- Growing tables
- Vertical gardens
- When you have decided where and how, place the soil inside the container. The more ecologic the better, try to use compost.
- Then you should decide how do you want to plant it, this could be: directly into the container or into a smaller pot and then move it to the chosen container very carefully to avoid damaging the roots.
- Third step is watering, try to go for drop irrigation. To do it, fill a recycled plastic bottle or any container, take the lid off and put a piece of fabric or string going from the water to the soil. This is a great way to save water, but do not forget to water more frequently during dry season.
- At last, it is important to compost the soil at least two times a year. This adds nutrients and necessary minerals to help the plants grow.
Making this activities at home, not only will help with environmental and economic sustainability, but they are a recreative and educational space with great influence in your quality of life. It is a small investment that incorporates nature on your daily basis, this will bring big changes to your life through new habits and more environmental awareness.
