Video: GrowingPower.org Demonstrates the Power of Sustainable Gardening

If you've never heard of Will Allen, prepare to be informed and inspired! Will founded GrowingPower.org over 15 years ago to help people learn to grow their own food in urban areas, and was awarded the MacArthur Genius Award in 2008 for his work. Will's methods are sustainable, using aquaponics and other unique and holistic systems to grow fresh, organic foods, and his work serves as an example of how successful sustainable farming and gardening can be on a larger scale.

Here is a bit more info on GrowingPower.org:
Growing Power is a national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by helping to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities. Growing Power implements this mission by providing hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner.

The video below gives a great overview of Allen's work and the Growing Power organization. For more information, also see the excellent and inspiring documentary, Fresh.

Will Allen [Urban Farmer] - Growing Power
Growing Power is a national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by hel...

Video: Creating A Sustainable Organic Backyard Garden

This inspiring video shows the transformation of one man's backyard lawn into a beautiful, sustainable, organic vegetable garden. He shows and describes in step-by-step detail such things as building his rainwater collection and watering system, including how he did it, what materials he used, and approximately how much some of the materials cost, and setting up his raised beds.

He used the bio-intensive growing method, such as described in the book How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine, for high productivity without the use of any added chemicals. The time-lapse of his garden growing is awesome! Check it out for inspiration on how to create your own garden using sustainable gardening techniques such as rainwater harvesting, bio-intensive growing, and other helpful tips:

Backyard Organic Garden
Learn how to transform a small backyard into a highly productive, self-watering, sustainable vegetable garden that doesn't use any chemicals or pesticides. P...


Other Helpful Resources for Sustainable Gardening in Small Spaces:
   

Why Gardening Is Important for Humanity

Most people think of gardening as a hobby, and indeed, for most people it is. But gardening is far more than that, and although the reasons why we garden may be as many as there are gardeners, at a basic level the real reason is that it fulfills some important needs for us as humans.

Obviously one of the main reasons is that it helps us feel some sense of control over at least a part of our food supply - however small that part may be. In today's day and age, the importance of this aspect cannot be overstated. Most people haven't the faintest idea where their food comes from in any real sense. Where was it raised? How was it raised/what kind of a life did it have? Where has it been since then? There is no connection between us and where our food comes from anymore.

"Spirit of '18. The World Cry FOOD. Keep the home gardening going". (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Being able to say you know exactly what is on your plate and what went into growing it, harvesting it, and getting it onto your plate is something most people aren't able to do with any sort of certainty these days. Growing some of it in your own backyard is a great way to have a real connection with what you eat - and also to experience what goes into growing food, and therefore at least feel a greater connection to those who grow the rest of yours.

But at perhaps an even deeper level, humans yearn to feel that they are contributing something of value, and feeling that you have a hand in directly contributing to the survival and well being of yourself and your family is a powerful thing - so much so that it's hard to put into words. Contributing food that you planted, cared for, and harvested with your own two hands to your family's dinner table offers an important sense of control and connection in an often uncertain and disconnected world. Those who garden may not put their reasoning into these words, but it goes a long way towards explaining why gardening is just about the most popular and widespread "hobby" in the developed world.

If you haven't started a garden before, or even if you have but you're not sure if you want to do it again this year, think about the deeper meaning behind what it is to garden - not just to enjoy a pretty scene of flowers and vegetables, but to truly help to support yourself and your family with your own efforts. It may not always be easy, but when it comes down to it, it's always worth it.

Want to Try Gardening? Consider a Potager

You may have heard the saying, "have your cake and eat it too." With a potager you have your garden and eat it too!

Potagers are a great option for people who live on smaller lots of land or only have room for a small garden. They are also great for people who just don't have the time to tend a larger garden but like to have some color in their yard and fresh vegetables at the same time.

Kitchen garden at Bolen residence (Photo credit: Gardening in a Minute)

So just what is a potager?

Depending on who you ask, there are a few different definitions of what a potager is supposed to be - ranging from an organized display vegetable garden to a combination of edible plants and display plants.

If you've never heard the term before, essentially a potager is making use of the colors and textures of vegetables to create a colorful display garden with the added benefit of being able to eat the plants in it, and that is why it is considered the ultimate garden by some - it is pleasing to both the eye and the stomach!

With many flowers finding their way into salads and other forms of foods as people become aware of the fact that they are edible, the potager has become more popular in recent years.

By adding sculptures, pots, specimen trees and anything else that you would add to a normal flower garden, the potager can become a focal point in any garden and your vegetables no longer need to be hidden away out of sight in some other part of your property.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most potagers are grown in raised beds that allow better control over the drainage and reduce the chance of the vegetables becoming waterlogged. Raised beds also allow the soil to warm faster in the spring, create ease of access, and offer a neat look.

By planning your sustainable vegetable garden in a structured manner, and making use of contrasting colors and textures of leaves, foliage, and vegetables, you can create a display that will rival any flower garden.

It can be quite a fun and exciting challenge to create an eye-catching potager. If you only have a small area for gardening, and want to try something a bit different with your available space, why not try a potager this garden season?


Check Out These Resources for More On Creating A Potager: