• Teach the future generations: Our children can learn where food comes from by growing our own.
• Keep climate change at bay: Urban greening is responsible for reducing urban heat island effect by as much as 20%.
• Strengthen neighborhood bonds: Urban gardening builds communities, good will, economic growth and bio diversity.
• You can plant a garden anywhere: Stairwells bathrooms, libraries, living rooms and kitchens with windows. Community centers, restaurants and grocery stores with window.
• Delicious foods at the ready! For inside gardening, carrots, avocados, garlic green, micro greens, salad greens, tomatoes, lemons, mushrooms, scallions, ginger, cilantro, rosemary, and peppers all thrive.
• Improve air quality: Indoor gardens store CO2 and making an Oxygen-rich home.
• Get happier: Therapeutic benefits studied that it staves off depression, makes folks happy.
• Be more productive: Plants raise the humidity in a home and offers aromatherapy that calms nerves and makes us more productive.
• Think of others: We become better advocates for small farms and growing organically.
• It's not hard to start: First, identify your best source of light and add grow lights when needed. Buy an attractive container that drains and a saucer to capture the water so it doesn't ruin your furniture. Get a good potting soil, gather some rocks or terra cotta chips for drainage, buy plant plugs when possible as it is harder (but not impossible) to grow from seed.
• It won't take long: The time commitment is minutes a day once the initial set up. Set up is less than an hour. Benefits are 24 hours a day.
• It won't cost much: All the materials are inexpensive so failure is no big deal… buy another seed of plug. Or better yet, cut off a piece of ginger from your fridge, place it in some soil, water it and watch in grow more ginger! How fun is that?
Rebecca Cole is the urban farming/gardening expert for King's Farm Heroes Saga "Be a Farm Hero" Pop-Up Event in NYC on April 9th
