Those of us that lives or lived in California knows that it’s a challenge to find places to grow things because it is so tight there. You can reach out and touch your neighbor’s house from inside of yours. A little humor but you get what I mean. It’s pretty tight. I have seen other people’s house that is so small and have a huge back yard I can play catch in. Well I’m envious of them. (: My sister’s house in Long Beach, CA is decent size and has a nice backyard but they also have brown thumbs and can’t get anything to grow well.

So finding a place to plant anything could be a challenge if you look too hard. Some say “I have a small backyard, it’s not gonna work.” or “My dirt isn’t dirt it’s just sand.” to “I just don’t have the place.” I tell ya what. Small places are better, why? It’s contain. You don’t have to worry about too much about fertilizers, walking too far, and most importantly less water to use. Some are still droughts in some places of the country.

Take a look at the side of the house. (If the backyard is an issue.) Well it’s concrete and no dirt. Not to worry get some containers.

Head out to your local nursery, or home improvement stores and get some buckets, yes buckets. (If you want) You can go all fancy and get planter boxes. And if you fancy and good at building things, buy some ceder, white oak, or locust  wood and built your own. My husband built a few raised garden for me. Looks quite well.

Now if you do have a backyard that has an area to plant goodies well that’s great. Make sure you prep your area before planting. Depending on what kind of dirt you have.

Clay dirt it great for plants because they retain all the nutrients your plants need to grow because the dirt is so compact that it holds some or almost all the nutrients your plants needs to grow. My mom prefer clay dirt because everything grow so well on it. She’s use to dirt like that and when she came over to my house and looked at my garden she frowned. “It’s not even good dirt.” Well mom sorry to disappoint you. Love you though.

Loose dirt it’s a little hard but not impossible. Build a terrain around the area where the water wouldn’t escape and flood it for a couple of days. Three days max. It should be good to hold some compost. Dig up trenches inside your area you want to plant and put some grass you mowed and dead leaves into the trench and bury it. Use almost decomposing leaves or dry up old grasses. I have my husband mowed the lawn put the fresh grass into a plastic bag or trash bin that you don’t throw trash in and keep it on the side for my gardening.

If you  have sand dirt like I do. You need to use a lot of compost or organic fertilizer on it because, when you water your plants all the nutrients goes straight down and it get water down with all the good stuff. If you can put a drip line to your garden and use the 360 nozzle. Sand dirt is really good when planting potatoes because it’s loose and it easier for them to spread out. Somehow garlic aren’t nice to me. Haven’t got it to grow on me, yet.

I have no patience. I like to use my planting area ASAP. That’s why I said to use already decomposing or dry grass because in a week or two you’re ready to go. I usually sprinkle dry up grass after I spread seeds onto my area. The dry grass act as a cover from eyeing birds, retains moisture, and best of all provide nitrogen for my seedlings.

I hope this helps a little in deciding where to use as a garden spot and what you can do with the dirt you have.