Gardening is beautiful, and relaxing, but it can also be counterproductive to nature itself. Huge amounts of infrastructure are in place for industrial and recreational gardening. In the shadow of this industry a new revolution has quietly been making waves and it is not just about aesthetics, it’s also about social progress, healthy food and cost-efficiency. How’s that for a reason to get dirty?

1. Spin Gardening 

Spin Gardening, or small plot intensive gardening, is typically done on an individual’s private property, usually in lawns or backyards. Spin gardens replace grass with vegetables or crops and turn yards into small-scale farms. Spin gardening can take the form of large-scale companion gardening when each lawn in a neighborhood, or community, grows a different crop. This type of gardening is conducive to neighbourhood collaboration. This can create a more diversified food source and a greater sense of community. In some cases a property owner can sublet their yard to a spin gardener who agrees to sow and harvest the plot and sell the produce at a local market or to a local vendor. The spin gardener will then either pay the property owner directly or will give a percentage of the profit from the harvest back to the property owner.2. Guerrilla Gardening

Guerrilla gardening is similar to spin gardening in that at it’s core it is about turning unproductive growing space into productive growing space. However, guerrilla gardening often does this without property owners or jurisdictions expressed consent. It is done in many places from abandoned corner lots, to the meridian in between busy highway lanes, to abandoned cars. In many cases communities will adopt the pop-up gardens started by guerrilla gardeners. Guerrilla gardening is very easy and accessible. One of the easiest ways  to get started is through seed bombing. All you need to do is throw plant seeds out of a car window, or even better a bicycle, and let the seeds do their magic. Guerrilla gardening is a phenomena that is growing fast in cities all around the world. Make sure to search for a group near you.3. Balcony Gardening:

Balcony gardening is small-scale and space efficient. It is amazing how much produce you can grow on a small urban balcony. The idea for balcony gardening is also similar to spin gardening in that you are retrofitting your leisure space to bolster your food production. One of the first things you should do when starting out balcony gardening is figure out which direction your balcony faces and how much sunlight you get per day. Next, figure out which plants, veggies, herbs, and edible plants you want to grow and how much sunlight they need. Then, find creative homes for your plants on your balcony. As you might have noticed by this point there is no soil base on your balcony. One of the easiest ways to remedy this is to find old buckets, antique drawers, vases, old sinks, or anything else that can hold soil. Finding these planter containers is fun and creative. Additionally, you can outfit your balcony with lattice creating even more vertical growing space. The lattice is great for sweet peas and climbing vines like runner or pole beans.