Our mission is to promote a healthier, more sustainable, self-reliant lifestyle while maintaining a focus on environmental conservation within the urban and suburban setting. We accomplish this by offering environmentally responsible advice, products and systems to enable the time and space limited gardener to grow, store and recycle food in an easy, affordable and eco-friendly manner.
Meet the Authors
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| Zane and Rachael Ross are the co-founders of Urban Garden Solutions and primary contributors for Urban Garden Solutions Blog. Married in 2000, both have backgrounds in software development and are the parents of four very spunky children.Growing concerns for their family’s health led to their heightened awareness of their disconnectedness from nature. After quite a bit of research, the Ross’s realized that the concerns they had were becoming more and more prominent among people, not just in the Pacific Northwest, but all over the world. Folks were and are becoming increasingly troubled by food-borne illnesses, use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones, GMO (genetically modified organisms), compounding human population growth, food shortages and climbing food prices. Moreover, society was and is becoming more cognizant of their dependence on our current food systems, such as Industrial Agriculture and Factory Farming, and the ecological impact of such operations. Couple all of these topics with economic stress and the controversy of climate change and it becomes clear that mainstream changes need to be made in how we think about our role on the planet. Instead of participating in a harmonious partnership with the earth, human beings are proving to be the “end of the line” in resource consumption. Of course, gardening is not “the” solution to all of our problems. However, envision almost everyone using their resources in an efficient and sustainable manner to produce even a portion of their food. That kind of widespread lifestyle shift could substantially alleviate the stress we place on our planet – and eventually lead us to even greater positive changes in how we live.
The concept of sustainability is simple – energy out should equal energy back in. The realization of the extreme imbalance between us and earth led them on their current journey to become an ecologically balanced family and grow as much of their own food as they could. Living in a suburb of the Seattle, Zane and Rachael had three major obstacles to growing food – lack of sufficient garden space, a fairly short spring/summer growing season and a shortage of sunlight, especially since their neighbor’s huge fir tree shaded much of their postage stamp-sized yard. The issues they faced with gardening were common challenges for those living in urban and suburban settings where space was a commodity. However, finding gardening solutions for these specific problems presented quite the challenge. Sifting through general gardening sites, products and how-to’s to find the information they needed was very time-consuming. The average person living in a fast-paced urban area would find it a daunting and discouraging undertaking. In an effort to bring highly targeted news, information and products together in one place to both raise awareness and help people get on-board with the “Grow Your Own Food Revolution”, Urban Garden Solutions was born. In 2008, Rachael left her job as a Software Programmer Analyst, mostly to be at home with their children, but also to explore their interest in becoming instrumental in helping others learn how they can lessen their environmental impact through the act of gardening. They’ve been growing, in more than one sense, ever since. Be sure to subscribe to the blog here to receive regular updates and connect with us on Facebook or Twitter. Using the sharing links below, please tell family and friends that would be interested in learning more about sustainable, small space gardening. For products and more in-depth articles on small-space gardening, composting, etc. please visit the Urban Garden Solutions retail site.
Alex, one of our sons, proudly showing off the lettuce he “growed” in one of our front yard raised garden beds. |
I am moving to CO. from NE. I raise dahlias. The soil out there is very hard and compact. What do you suggest I amend it with.? Pat
Hi Pat! You want loose, well-draining soil so amending with sand and coconut coir would provide both of those properties. Traditionally, gardeners amended their soil with peat, however, due to the peat bogs supplies becoming more and more exhausted, coir is becoming the “new peat”. You can buy bags of loose coir or condensed bricks from most garden centers now. The condensed version, you simply put it in a 5-gallon bucket, fill it with water and wait a few minutes for the brick to expand. Then just mix it into your soil well.
Oh, and don’t forget the compost!
If you don’t already recycle your yard waste and kitchen scraps into compost, consider doing so. You’ll always have a nutrient-rich food for your plants on hand.