An urban victory garden is the perfect way to ensure your family has fresh produce during the summer, fall, even winter! Plus, any extra you produce from your urban victory garden you can store for later use. But if you don’t have a lot of space and/or rent, how can you create an urban victory garden?
What Is An Urban Victory Garden?
A victory garden refers to the growing of food on your own land or public land to feed your family or the community during bad times. So, if that is what a victory garden is, then an urban victory garden would be the same. But it would be for the cities, big towns, suburbs, and apartments.
Why Are Urban Victory Gardens Important?
But why is a victory garden and urban victory garden important? Can’t we just go to the store and get food?
Yes, we can. However, having a garden can sometimes be cheaper and right now I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the prices at the stores are skyrocketing and that’s if there isn’t already shortage at your store. Plus, as per usual, there are more and more rumors of war, shortages, and all that fun stuff.
So it is important for us to learn these life skills and to become self-sufficient as much as we can be.
Related: What Is A Victory Garden and why is it so important?
How To Create An Urban Victory Garden?
Now, I guess the big question is, how do we start creating an urban victory garden? This is something I’ve had to learn as we don’t have our dream land yet and I want to share these ideas with you!
1. Pick Out Space For Your Urban Victory Garden
You may not have a lot of space. But you can grow plants on window sills, fences, tubs, slabs, and balconies. You can even grow stuff in bare spots on the lawn too. Pick out as many places as you can. The more space you can find, the more you can plant.
2. Use Containers For Your Urban Garden
If you have a rooftop, slab, sidewalk, ledges, outside shelves, you can use containers to grow a garden. Containers are great for:
- Berry Bushes- Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Parsley
- Cantaloupes
- Oregano
- Peppers
- Spinach
- Chives
- Cucumbers
- Thyme
- Lettuce
- Kale
- Potatoes
- Radishes
- Beetroot
- Carrots
3. Create A Vertical Urban Victory Garden
Yes, you can make a vertical urban victory garden! There are multiple ways to make vertical urban victory gardens. And all of them are so awesome. Because they are vertical you can use them on patios, walls, and even fences!
The best part is you can use pallets, shoe organizers, jeans, trees, trellis, and more.
4. Get Rid Of Your Front Lawn For A Cute Urban Victory Garden
You probably won’t get away with this if you have an HOA *boo hiss*, but there are ways to make your front lawn into an edible garden without it looking like a garden. And if you like your neighbors, you can also share with them!
5. Tear Out Decorative Bushes In Your Front Yard For Edible Plants To Create A Small Victory Garden
I always hated the decorative bushes most cookie cutter houses have. Sure, they’re pretty, but they’re really useless. Swap them out for bushes, trees, and plants that are edible.
Be aware though, certain herbs and plants can grow out of control- I’m looking at you peppermint.
You can also plant other things instead of bushes and herbs like aloe or hibiscus (makes an excellent tea that lowers blood pressure and can make you poop making it a natural laxative.)
6. Get Rid Of Your Backyard Lawn To Create An Urban Victory Garden
This is really only doable if you own a house in the suburbs. But your backyard, while manicured with pretty grass may look nice, it’s only usable in the sense of walking. Make an edible garden with bushes, trees, and plants. The best part is, you can still style it too look nice and natural.
7. Rooftop Urban Victory Gardens
If you live in the city or middle of town there is a chance your apartment building will have a roof you have access too. Rooftop urban gardens are a thing. You can create a small garden up there, if permitted, using containers. Again, since people are crafty containers are not your only option you can also make raised garden beds too.
8. Hanging Basket Urban Victory Gardens
And because many of us have access to porches or balconies, we often have a place to hang things. You can us hanging baskets to create a small victory garden too!
Actually, if I recall, wasn’t there an add for like hanging upside tomato planters?
9. Growing Vegetables Over A Pergola
If your backyard has a pergola over the concrete slab so many of us suburbanites have right outside out backdoor then use it! So many creeping plants love pergolas and will sprawl across it and
10. Grow An Urban Victory Garden Using Your Windows
Whether you’re using your windowsill or using window boxes, this is a fantastic way to grow plants! I’ve done this method for years even in the apartment we lived in. I loved growing herbs, chives, just things I could cut off a little bit when I needed it while cooking.
Some Of My Favorite Urban Victory Garden Supplies
Don’t worry, I’m not trying to sell you anything. These are NOT affiliate links, rather things I find useful when doing an urban garden.
- Potato Bags
- Raised Garden Beds
- Stackable Planters
- Plant Shelves (There are cheaper ones, but this one has a lot of room for plants.)
- Shoe organizer
- Hanging Baskets
- Hanging Tomato Planters
- Window Sill Planters
Urban Garden Books To Help You Learn To Grow In The Suburbs and City
I’m not an expert. I’m mostly trial and error and I’ve seen what my friends have done. However, there are people who have a lot more ideas and knowledge on the subject than me. Again, these are NOT affiliate links, but books that will hopefully help you grow your own victory garden.
- The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty In The City
- Field Guide to Urban Gardening
- The Indoor/Outdoor Urban Homestead Plant Guide
- How To Grow Vegetables In Pots and Containers
- The Tree Book: Superior Selections For Landscapes, Streetscapes, and gardens
- Edible Landscaping: Foodscaping and Permaculture For Urban Gardeners
- Gardening 4 In 1 Master Class
How To Store The Excess Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs From Your Victory Garden?
Have extra! You’re blessed! Not only can you share with others, but you can store the rest for later too? How?
There are a number of ways to store things like onions, potatoes, and garlic. But you can also:
- Dehydrate
- Freeze Dry
- Freeze
Then store them by vacuum sealing them or in airtight areas with little moisture.
Times Are Tough, Supplement Your Home With An Urban Victory Garden
Times are indeed tough, unfortunately. You know what they say, bad times make strong men, strong men make good times, and good times make weak men. Well, we are in the good time with weak men and women and because of that we are finding our society, the economy, and really the world crumbling.
I tend not to worry, because I know God is watching out for my family and I and no matter what happens, I know I’m saved and where I am going when I die.
However, like Joseph in the time of famine in Egypt, it never hurts to be prepared. And even doing a couple of these urban victory garden ideas can make a difference in not only your diet, but bank account as well.
And if you just so happen to have extra, share it with others or store the excess!
Do you think you’ll be having an urban victory garden this year?
