Our urban gardening tips for all, from balconies to backyards.

May means it’s time to get gardening. Whether your seeds have sprouted or you'll be picking up some seedlings, our Marketplace has all the urban ag essentials you could need. We’re stocked with ready-to-plant seedlings - classics like cukes and tomatoes to more out-there crops like loofahs, perennials, trees, and bushes of all kinds. Whether you have a windowsill, balcony, backyard, or community garden, our team has tips and tricks to help you get started.

Meet Joëlle, our Content Coordinator and low-key balcony gardener. She makes the most of her small space, planting fresh veggies and herbs in recycled planters made from repurposed wood. Each year before getting started, she replenishes her potting soil and tops up her pots from last year with a little bit of fertilizer.

Throughout her four years of balcony gardening, Joëlle has made the absolute most of her small space through trial and error - sticking to herbs and small veggies like radishes instead of sprawling plants. As a self-proclaimed lazy gardener, Joëlle prefers to go with the flow, purchasing ready-to-plant seedlings instead of seeds. She opts for hardy plants (like rainbow chard, kale, basil, and mint) that thrive with limited space and sunlight - and that can survive even if she misses watering them once…or twice.

Joëlle finds certain veggies, like tomatoes, grow easily but, unluckily for her, they’re a hit  with squirrels. To protect her shorter plants from the pesky critters (the nemesis of all gardeners), she creates chicken wire domes and uses fragrant herbs to keep them away.

Meet Courtney, our Chief of Staff and experimental backyard gardener. She grows plants wherever they’ll thrive (so, is technically also a front yard gardener).

Courtney started prepping for her garden weeks ago by planting her seeds in peat pots, and now that they’ve sprouted, she’s ready to transfer them outside. She also can’t resist grabbing an extra few seedlings from the whole array available on the Marketplace (they’re also perfect for the seeds that sadly didn’t sprout) and bare-root plants to go along with the essential new fertilizers she’s excited to try.

The first sign of spring springs by early May in her yard with garlic, asparagus, rhubarb, and the rest of her garden already eagerly popping up. These perennials are perfect for the effortless gardener - plant them once and watch them sprout year after year.

Something Courtney struggles with is the mature trees shading everything, but she’s found success with hardier varieties like ground cherries, raspberries, elderberries, and tomatoes. When it comes to her thriving zucchinis, they grow so quickly that her biggest challenge is finding new ways to eat them. This year, she’s taking on the challenge of planting corn, and she’s experimenting with fruits by placing blueberry bushes in sunnier spots.

Bonus team tips!

• No space? No problem! Check out community gardens in your area.
• Choose seedlings based on your space, conditions, and commitment level. 
• Every plant is unique, check the best time of the season to plant your varieties outside since some plants are more sensitive to temperature fluctuations. You can check each product’s Marketplace page for instructions or the more detailed resources at Jardins de l’Écoumène.
• Do you forget to water your garden? Make it a routine by setting reminders on your phone.
• Leave a water bowl and a bird feeder full of seeds by your garden to distract the sneaky squirrels.
• If pests are feasting on your fresh veg, fill their appetites by letting weeds grow around your garden.