By Reggie Solomon

• Seattle, Washington may be known for its coffee scene, but Shibaguyz prove you can garden in the city no matter how small your backyard and get beautiful results.

• A Detroit Michigan gardener at Georgia Street Community Garden discovers a city ordinance that actually forbids community gardens. Yikes!

• David Pescovitz at Boing Boing discovers an urban garden in the unlikeliest place, under a New York City sidewalk grate.  That’s gorilla gardening indeed!

• Eco urbanists at LJ Urban aspire to turn vacant city lots into urban garden oasis.

By Cindy Naas

When my children were very small I was determined to get them involved in growing vegetables and in being close to the earth even though we live in a city.

I grew up on a farm and learned to garden with my dad and wanted to pass that on to my sons.

However, when I began gardening with them I quickly discovered that many neighbors had never even grown a pot of tomatoes on a balcony, much less had an entire vegetable garden to tend and enjoy.

That made me think about not only how cut off most people are from the land but how isolated many people are in a city. Most of us don’t know Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

One easy way that urban dwellers can participate in gardening is through a community garden.

In a community garden, a group of people share plots in one common piece of land.

This is a great way for those with no space to still enjoy the wonders of gardening. You can look at the American Community Garden Association’s website, to see if there is one near you.

If there is not one nearby, you could consider starting your own. There are several steps involved in starting a community garden.

1. Planning: As with any project, you must first Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

“Never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

Living in the South, I had somehow taken for granted that most people live somewhere with enough land around them to have at least a small garden.

I mean this is the South! Doesn’t everyone grow something here?

Turns out that I was wrong. Birmingham has a large urban population, much of it in lackluster apartment complexes and Section 8 housing.

Even before the economy tanked, thousands of people in my county were going without food, and Read the rest of this entry »