When I lived in a small apartment, I dreamed of the day when I would live on a couple acres and could grow a huge garden complete with enough tomatoes to can sauces for the rest of the year and enough fresh fruits and veggies that I wouldn’t have to buy any all summer.

But then I moved into our first house perfectly located on 2.5 acres. I thought, “This is it! This is my time to really become a gardener and grow all of our own food!”

The only problem is, this takes a huge amount of time. As a busy wife, mom, and homemaker to very active toddler twin boys, I simply didn’t have the time this summer to plant a full garden. It was on my “to-do” list. I even bought the seeds, planned out where my garden would go…and suddenly it’s now September! Where did this summer go?

This summer went to swimming with my boys, eating watermelon on the deck, two vacations, working on writing my book, and spending lazy days reading on the couch with my hubby. It was a wonderful summer and yet I just didn’t have the time to plant and maintain a full garden.

I hope to one day get to the point where I can have a full garden (and young helpers to help me out!) but I’m just not there yet. So even though I live in a house with plenty of space, I will be doing a patio garden again this year. 

Small Space Gardening

Is it right for you?

I think when people hear about container gardening they assume that this topic is only for those who live in small apartments or tiny houses. But I think container gardening can be for anyone, especially the busy homemaker!

One of my commitments as a homemaker, is to my family’s health. And a great way to do that is through growing your own fresh produce and that’s why container gardening has become can be the key!

The Patio Garden

As we head into September, I’m starting to plan my Fall/Winter garden. Since I’ve been really busy this year, I think this is the perfect way for me to ease into gardening in my new house! I’ll be planting winter fruits and vegetables and getting things all ready for an early Spring planting of my Summer garden for next year. (See Apartment Gardening to learn how to plant your Fall/Winter Garden and plan for the next season.)

I’ve found with gardening, if I can plan ahead, I am much more likely to succeed with my gardening plans. 

The Herb Garden

If you feel like tackling an even smaller task, try doing a simple herb garden this Fall to get into the swing of growing things. A simple and very useful thing to do (even in the smallest of apartments that don’t have a patio) is to grow a few herbs on your window sill.

You can start the herbs from small seeds for just a few cents per plant or buy full grown herb plants for just a few dollars each. Most herbs thrive when you constantly prune them…so use all those fresh herbs in your cooking!

Getting Started

Are you convinced now? Or curious if starting a small space garden is really doable? I’ve started a mini series on how to get started gardening. Please browse through the series. And if you want to know even more step by step instructions on how to plant a small space garden, fall/winter plants, organic gardening, growing herbs, making your own compost and more then check out my book Apartment Gardening!

• Gardening 101 Introduction
• Figuring out WHAT to plant
• Figuring out WHEN to plant
• Starting and planting your seeds
• Get the entire manual HERE on how to start a small space garden!