Books and Articles by Paul Simon

Sustainability involves three practices that ensure the wise use of water, materials, and other resources to make sure they last from one generation to the next and in harmony with nature.Know your soil conditions.© piyaset / Shutterstock.com Many urban gardeners are correct in thinking they have poor soil. The urban garden area is likely to be compacted and poor in structure and quality.

Children’s gardening has become huge all across the country. Many educators, parents, and public officials see gardening as a way to reconnect kids with nature, get them outside for some healthy exercise, and teach them about healthy eating habits. You can find many ways to encourage and entice your children to be involved in the garden at home.

Creating the perfect urban garden is one thing. The right tool makes or breaks a gardening job. Using a hoe to dig a hole for planting a tree is like eating soup with a fork. It’s just not the right tool for the task.Hand trowels and cultivatorsHand tools are perfect for gardening in raised beds, containers, and window boxes.

Urban gardening requires some creativity and flexibility, but the benefits you reap are well worth the effort. Your family can enjoy fresh vegetables and herbs all season long, and gardening is great exercise. You can plant an urban garden in a vacant lot, an underused parking area, or your roof, back deck, or patio.

Growing your own annual flower or vegetable transplants from seed for your urban farm isn’t difficult; you just have to have the right equipment, time, and dedication. Here are some simple steps you can take to get your seeds started indoors: Find a few good containers to use. You can use many different types of containers, including clean yogurt cups, peat pots, peat pellets, plastic pots, and plastic trays.

In some ways, animal manure is a better sustainable fertilizer for an urban farm than raw organic matter like grasses or woodchips. It doesn't take much time to decompose, like raw organic matter. Think of animals as composting factories: In goes the raw materials in the form of hay, straw, grass, and kitchen scraps, and out comes the fertilizer in the form of manure.

Many urban farmers favor organic fertilizers over chemical ones for several reasons. Although organic fertilizers may be slower to release their nutrients, they offer you and your garden many advantages: Organic fertilizers feed the soil by supplying nutrients to microbes that help keep a healthy, balanced soil ecosystem.

How well your tree or shrub grows in its first year in your urban garden depends on a number of factors. Planting the right tree in the right location and selecting a variety that’s adapted to your area are probably the two most important pieces to the puzzle. But after your tree or shrub is safely in the ground, you can help keep it healthy by following these basic guidelines: Keep watering.

In creating your own vertical garden, you can use do-it-yourself containers or ready-made products you can buy at the local urban gardening store. Here are some of these options: How to make your own garden containers Almost any plant will grow in a suitably sized container, so be creative and have fun! Don’t forget watering and maintenance considerations when reusing and building your own vertical container systems.