A NEW LOOK AT HOW WE USE OUR PERSONAL OUTDOOR SPACE
Recession, credit crunch, unemployment, inflation - all these things are making the outdoor space we own or use far more important. In this blog I have always been amazed at how many urban yards are a wilderness of unused valuable living space. It is now costing us more to go out and pay for entertainment, eating out,etc. and in the coming months that money is going to be in short supply.
The small outdoor space should now be used to the full as not only a twelve month entertainment zone but also as a micro-market garden. There are so many options for yardeners on how they divide their space and technology is at last catching up with the reality that these outdoor spaces are becoming smaller and smaller. One of my main passions, and part of my job as a retail buyer, is searching out exciting and practical new garden merchandise that is suitable for yards and not only traditional large gardens.
The upsurge in vegetable growing has brought many young people into gardening for the first time and this expansion can now move from gardens and allotments into yards.
Linear space is at a premium in our yards so to make cropping of any edible plants a viable alternative several things must be taken into account:
To help us to make a choice as to whether we use our space for micro-cropping is being helped by the international increase in non traditional growing techniques. These include vertical planting, hydroponics, production of micro-veg and 'salad machines'. Also on a less technical level we now have available plant specific and organic growing bags, vegetable plants bred to mature quicker and at a smaller size and also pre-grown vegetable plants ready for planting and growing on. It is now time over the coming months to prepare for spring and be ready to use the technology now available to create an exciting and productive yard.
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