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There are several reasons why urban gardens using containers are effective:

1. They enable us to practice "intensive" gardening method through maximum utilization of limited space.

2. It is easy to practice "intercropping" (planting a variety of plants in one container) which ensures the health of plants due to diversity.

3. It is possible to "conserve" both soil and water as containers prevent run offs of soil and excessive watering.

4. Urban gardens "make use of urban wasteland" (vacant lots, brown fields, unused parking lots, and roof tops)

5. Urban gardening provides "meaningful employment" for persons with limited skills and formal education.

6. Establishing and maintaining an urban garden are very "inexpensive".

7. Urban gardens provide creative ways to "recycle" old tires and other containers that otherwise would be thrown into landfills.

8. Churches and social service organizations can use urban gardening to "rehabilitate, create income generation projects, and provide therapy."

Technology for the Poor publishes a wonderful website that describes effective, low cost ways of developing container gardens that are highly productive. Using wading pools and tires, among other repurposed "technologies" urban residents can sink their toes into the soil in parking lots, on rooftops, in vacant lots and in their tiny urban backyards.  And the productivity isn't just in food -- as delicious as it might be -- it has far ranging quality of life and skill building results.

The purpose of an intensively grown garden is to harvest the most produce possible from a given space.

The Arizona Master Gardener Manual on Intensive Gardening methods examines several ways to grow in small areas.

The practice of intensive gardening is not just for those with limited garden space; rather, an intensive garden concentrates work efforts to create an ideal plant environment, giving better yields with less labor.

A good intensive garden requires early, thorough planning to make the best use of time and space in the garden. Interrelationships of plants must be considered before planting, including nutrient needs, shade tolerance, above- and below-ground growth patterns, and preferred growing season.

Using the techniques described in The Arizona Master Gardener Manual on Intensive Gardening , anyone can develop a high-yielding intensive garden.

LED / CFL / Fermenting Beer Grow Rooms

Dwarf vegetable varieties fit well in a highly reflective grow room ... radishes, tomatoes, lettuce and beer, of course :-)

Fermentation raises CO2 for better growth, CFLs add a full spectrum light for an LED lighting setup. www.advancednutrients.com

Take the Advanced Nutrients video overview series on YouTube, and check out their products for organic hydroponics and organic gardening.

Iguana Juice Grow
From: Advanced Nutrients