This is Taylor Campbell, horticulture extension agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension Burke Center. Today’s program is on gardening in small spaces.

Gardening promotes healthy habits such as spending time outdoors, physical activity, and raising homegrown fruits and vegetables. If you have little space or limited mobility, you may think gardening won’t work for you. However, raised-bed and container gardening are good options.

Raised beds are easier for those with mobility issues because they usually require less stooping and bending.

Vegetables usually do well in areas that receive full sun, but many will thrive and give you a good crop with less than a full day of sun. For example, carrots, lettuce, radish, spinach, onion, winter squash, cucumber, peas, cauliflower, and parsley will grow in areas with as little as four to six hours of daily sunlight. Make sure you put your raised beds near a water source as they will dry out quicker than if planted directly into the ground.

Container gardening may be a great solution for those living in apartments and condos. You will need drainage holes in the bottom of any container. You don’t want the plant roots standing in water. Think about clay or wood pots, plastic buckets, wheelbarrows, window boxes and hanging baskets. Try to avoid very small or dark-colored containers as they will hold heat and the root zone could get dangerously overheated in full sun.

This has been Taylor Campbell, horticulture extension agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension Burke Center. For more information call us at 764-9480.