19 May Urban Agriculture
Thebe ideas on urban agriculture
One can never truly compare city and country life. One the one side you have convenience, and on
the other you have space. Yes, that is a very simplified statement, but you get the just of it. The one
thing that a lot orf city people miss out on is agriculture – keeping animals and growing your own
food. This need not be the case. Depending on the space you have available, there are certain steps
you can take to improve your urban ways.
Chickens
If you have a bigger backyard, you can keep chickens. You will need to build a chicken coop and keep
it clean, but if you take care of your chickens, you’ll be able to enjoy delicious fresh eggs almost daily
(depending on the season and how well they lay). If you have young children, chickens are also a
great source of entertainment for them and can teach them valuable lessons about life.
Compost
Making your own compost can be rewarding and it’s not difficult. All you need is a bin, soil,
newspaper, a drill (or something to make holes with) and food waste (not meat or processed food).
Best of all you can keep it in your home, just add water every so often and soil if it begins to smell.
So, what you need to do is drill a few holes in the bin, put add soil and shredded newspaper on to
the bottom and throw in your food waste. Mix it a little every so often, and in a couple of months,
you’ll have beautiful, and home-grown compost.
Vertical gardens
If space is an issue, you can always try vertical gardening. This is a, let’s say new, concept of
gardening, although it’s been around for some time, concept of gardening. It’s very simple, hang
plants on top of each other on a wall or a vertical structure. Some people even use plastic two-litre
coold drink bottles tied together to form a type of ladder to hang from the roof or on a wall. Cut a
gap in the top for the plant to grow in and make small holes in the bottom for the water to run
through; fill the bottles up with soil and plant herbs or lettuces. Best of all, you only need to water
the top one as the water will run through to the bottom.
Container gardening
Again if you have limited space (or if you hate digging or your soil is too hard), this is a great option.
It’s simple; you only need pots (or any container really, drums or boxes also work) and soil. Just
make sure your pots drain properly, or you might end up drowning the plants. This is a great idea if
you want to plant bigger things or plants that need a lot of soil such as potatoes or mielies.
Image source: Garden Lovers
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