Gardening In A Small Space
Living in Central California has a lot of perks. I mean, Fresno is known in the nation for its Agriculture production — Almonds, Grapes, and Pistachios to name a few. Also, we are planting zone 9b which is considered an all-year planting zone. A thing I disliked before (I dreamt of living in a busy city like Chicago or Seattle) is one of the things I love now!
My family and I have been living in our little 1200 sq ft duplex rental for eight years, but it was not until this year that I got into gardening.
For the longest time, I couldn’t keep plants alive. I have killed a handful of lucky bamboo and roughly 100 succulents. Last year, I did have four little herb plants that were doing great but we had a flood and were out of our home for two months so they didn’t make it. In the middle of summer this year, I went all in and started my first vegetable garden. .
The Garden Beds
I am thankful that we have a decent yard for an apartment but because we are currently renting, I opted in grow bags and pots. I also have two 4’ x 2’ and one 8’ x 4’ raised garden beds. I have about 350 +/- sq ft dedicated for my garden that is fenced so the dogs doesn’t create a mess. Oreo especially likes to dig.
The first 4’ x 2’ bed is my herb box. This box is closest to the house which allows us to just walk out the patio and enjoy fresh herbs. It has different types of basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, chamomile, lemon balm, and green onions, but also currently has the first cherry tomato, eggplant, and okra. This is my very first box and the eggplant has provided a great harvest so I am waiting till it stops producing to remove it from the garden.
My second raised bed is another 4’ x 2’ box. This box has an 8-foot arch that fits perfectly and will be used as a trellis for my luffa. This box currently has jalapeños, Anaheim pepper, serrano, and couple of bell peppers. It also has French lavender and marigolds (to keep pests away and encourage beneficial insects to stay).
The third raised bed is the largest one. I just worked on this box in September but already has celery, lettuce, radish, carrots, broccolini, peas, swiss chard, spinach, onions, sage, and marigolds on the corners.
I have a 40” x 12” wood planter box that has thai chili pepper, red hot chili pepper, jalapeno, and lemongrass. And of course, I have a small 3 tier planters with strawberries.
I also have growbags which includes three 7-gallons grow bags with raspberry and two different kind of blueberries and one 10-gallon with potatoes.
I never thought I would enjoy and love gardening, but it has given me comfort. My Nanay loved gardening for as long as I can remember. Picking our food from our garden has brought me joy! If you’re thinking of starting &/or is a new gardener like me, here are some tools I found useful in my garden!
