Why You Should Garden Now (No Matter Where You Live)

As I mentioned in a previous post, a lot of people walk by on the sidewalk near my backyard garden. And some of them even stop and chat and ask me questions.

But there's something that inevitably comes up in these conversations that I find a little surprising. Namely, the nearly-unanimous belief that gardening is scary.

Scary? Yes, apparently it is, althought I don't know why.

Except that it may have something to do with the idea that unless you happen to have the perfect conditions for a garden, you won't enjoy it. This belief seems to take the form of either (or both) of the following problems:

• The weather here just isn't favorable for gardening.
• I don't have enough space and/or time to garden.

I personally have both of the problems listed above.

Covering my garden on chilly summer nightsYou see, where I live we have a very short growing season. I live just north of Edmonton, Alberta. It's cold and windy a lot of the time here on the Canadian prairies. So yes, gardening is challenging as far as the weather conditions.

And I don't have the space or the time to garden either. At least not how I'd prefer.

Plus, my husband and I rent, and we're not allowed to grow veggies in the ground surrounding the house we live in. Plus, the company who owns our home is supposed to install a backyard fence. (We've only been waiting for 7 years, but you know it could happen anytime.)

See what I mean? The problems can seem insurmountable. No doubt about it.

But who's complaining? I only mention my particular gardening challenges so that you won't dismiss what I'm going to say next from the belief that yours truly must have a perfectly sized garden growing wonderfully in perfect weather. Because that's certainly not the case.

You see, if you're waiting for the perfect conditions, you'll be waiting a long time.

I don't think the perfect conditions exist. There will always be something about where you are--or what you have to occupy your time with--that won't be to your liking.

So if you've been dreaming of a garden of your own, I encourage you to start right now with what you have. It doesn't matter what the weather's doing where you live. And it doesn't matter if you don't have a yard to garden in.

 If you have a porch or patio, you can garden. If you have a balcony--or even a sunny windowsill--you can garden. (Not to mention that some plants--such as lemon balm--will grow nicely in the shade.)

Hey, there will always be challenges. But if you let those challenges stop you from pursuing a passion--like gardening--you'll be missing out on the joys.