"To own a bit of ground, to scratch at
it with a hoe, to plant seeds, and watch the
renewal of life -- this is the commonest delight
of the race, the most satisfactory thing a
person can do."
-Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1870

Yeah, yeah Charles. That's all well and good, but what do you do when you have the kitchen gardening itch and little or no ground to scratch? Much has been said and written about the loveliness of little things, often by those who own large ones. For example, the German-born economist E. F. Schumacher (pictured right) is known for his visionary book Small is Beautiful, yet he is also known to have tended a very large organic garden at his home in Surrey, England. When it comes to kitchen gardening, the more appropriate catchphrase might be "small can be beautiful".

Those of you who have been scratching at the ground for a while know that gardening is very much about doing "what you can with what you've got". This pertains not only to one's space, but to one's soil and climate. To expand on this, the organic approach to gardening is about living as lightly and creatively as possible within one's natural limits. One soon discovers in doing so that there is much joy and even beauty to be had in this approach.

Here are a few categories of "smallness" along with some ideas for finding beauty in them:

Apartment dweller, no space:
This is a category I know very well having lived in it for nearly 10 years in Brussels. The first and obvious solution is to grow what you can indoors on a sunny windowsill which essentially limits you to fresh herbs in clay pots or, if you're lucky, a window-box. You may succeed with other things like compact varieties of tomatoes and peppers depending on the amount of sun you can provide them. You can improve your chances by using the right soil mix and types of containers. For more information about that, see the links below.

My longing for extra space ultimately led me beyond the confines of my family's two-bedroom, 7th-floor apartment. I was working at the time for a European environmental organization called Friends of the Earth Europe and had an office whose window gave access to a small rooftop with an unprotected fall of 80 ft (25 m) onto a paved courtyard. Environmentalists are known for being "crunchy" (think granola); I was also a bit "nutty" or maybe "nuts" is a better word. My colleagues would watch me with a mixture of worry and wonder as I climbed out my window during lunchbreaks to tend my tomato plants. The owners of the the building ultimately closed down my operation for safety reasons which led me to appropriate a small plot of land at my parents-in-law's house. You might be able to do the same thing -- not at my parents-in-law's because I doubt they'd approve -- but by seeking out a small piece of available land in your area. There's a vibrant and growing community gardening movement (a.k.a the "allotment movement" in the UK) happening in the world whereby city-dwellers can have their vegetables and grow them too. See the links below for more information on plots near you.

Apartment dweller, small balcony:
In addition to having the options above, a person living in this category has the possibility of growing some varieties that require more space and more sun. I've even seen people growing dwarf fruit trees on larger balconies. I mentioned before that living within one natural limits involves creativity. Here's a photo sent to us by one kitchen gardener who has devised an elegant solution for extending his balcony an extra 4 feet (1.2 m). He tells us that he's also designed a small collapseable table for his balcony so that he and his wife can enjoy breakfast in the garden when they want, proof that kitchen gardening is not just an activity but a lifestyle.

Home, apartment, or condominium dweller, very small yard:
It is when one owns a small plot of land that is part of the earth that one can really begin to experience the delight that Charles Dudley Warner describes. Here, several options become possible from a salad garden (ie different varieties of greens and lettuce) to a soup garden (ie carrots, onions, potatoes, etc) to a salsa garden (ie tomatoes, peppers, cilantro a.k.a coriander)) and everything in between. For people just starting out, I think a small tossed salad garden (ie a few varieties of "cut and come again" lettuce varieties or mesclun mixes, 1-2 favorite herbs and a compact tomato plant or two) is great introduction to the pleasures of the kitchen garden. It is important that the beginning gardener be aware of the space requirements of different plants and varieties. Your love of zucchini (courgettes) may well preclude your love of anything else if you're not careful.

The important thing, once again, is to do what you can with what you've got. Schumacher wrote that "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." Planting a small garden, whether in the ground or in containers, is way of taking a small step in this other direction towards simplicity and living in harmony with nature. It's true that it requires a bit of courage and genius, but its returns beat Wall Street's even in the bullest of years.