Growing Food In A Small Backyard

Many people have told us that they would love to grow their own food, but one thing holds them all back. Having a small yard. 

People think that you need acres of land to be able to produce your own food. But guess what.... I'll let you in on a little secret...... You don't! You can grow an abundance of food in any sized backyard - or balcony for that matter! 

Here are our tips for how to grow your own food in a small backyard - 

1 - POTS 

Pots are a great space saving idea, because you don't need garden beds! You can have small pots inside on a window sill filled with herbs. You can have big pots outside filled with herbs, vegetables, or fruit trees! We have a Meyer lemon tree in a pot that is very content and produces a great crop of lemons each year! The other good thing about pots is that you can move them - if you need to move them in or out of the sun, or even to a new house - you can! 

2 - BAGS 

Bags or sacks are another great idea - especially for potatoes! You can grow kilos and kilos of potatoes in old chook food bags or in hessian sacks! The good the about bags too, is that they are cheap! 

3 - DWARF TREES

Many varieties of fruit trees now come in dwarf varieties. This means that they can easily be grown in pots, or in small sections of your garden, without having to worry that they will get too big and out of control! The best thing about a dwarf variety is that the fruit is always full size - so you get full sized fruit on half the tree!

4 - GO UP

Going up is a great way to optimise space. There are a few options here, firstly you could attach trellising to your fence and creep berries or beans or peas up. The second option, is to attach some guttering to your fence or wall to create hanging garden beds, these are especially good for shallow rooting foods like strawberries. Just make sure that you drill some holes in the bottom for drainage. 

So there you have it, we hope that the above ideas have given you some inspiration to start growing your own food, no matter how small your backyard is!