The Skinny:

“More than 7 million [American] families planted recession gardens for the first time” last summer. And our rockin’ First Lady put in a kitchen garden of her own at the White House.  Call it a recession garden, a kitchen garden, call it anything you want, but by GIY-ing even just a bit of your own food—like a few herbs—gets you huge benefits. You connect to the seasons and to growing things. You get exercise, fresh air and sunshine. You get to play in the dirt. You get to enjoy the fruits of your own labor and eat fresh, healthy, organic, local produce—for dirtcheap.  And you may even improve your health!

Work It:

Your options:

*If you have a backyard, you’ve got room for bounty. Let gardening gurus be your guide in cities like Los Angeles, where you’ll find plenty.  In Silver Lake alone, Creative Green holds organic backyard gardening workshops and Silver Lake Farms will school you on starting your very own vegetable garden and cooking it up later! Farther west, gardenerd can show you how it’s done in public or private classes.

*If space is an issue, consider a container garden. There are raised beds, there are pots, there are wine barrels or found objects like tea canisters to house your plants.  (We love mini farm boxes). Easy to grow tomatoes will thrive in just about anything you put them in.

*Consider starting with a kitchen herb garden on a windowsill or back stoop. Snipping off some cilantro at dinnertime will make cooking fresher, more flavorful and full of fun.

*Try your hand at growing herbal tea —it’s not as hard as it sounds. I love steeping mint in hot water for a refreshing summer number, but seeing how much of it I go through, I’d like to take a stab at chamomile.

*If you’re going to grow from seed (which we recommend), order yours from a sustainable purveyor. Seeds of Change are certified organic, the Seed Savers Exchange is committed to preserving heirlooms and Slow Food’s catalog, Ark of Taste, includes only the best-tasting foods facing extinction. Amish Pie Squash or Grandpa Admire’s Lettuce anyone?  Mmmnn.

*If you’re more ambitious or literally don’t have any horizontal space, try growing vertical. Here’s a step by step guide from GOOD for growing on a fence or wall (and we’ve told you about vertically cool Woolly Wall Pockets before). We also dig Window Farms, which allow the most urban apartment dweller to get growing by stringing up recycled materials like soda bottles. All you need is a window and an appetite for adventure.

Earn Your Stripes:

Make it a closed loop kind of thing and compost! You can use a pile, a bin, or a small space version like the NatureMill that fits under your kitchen sink. Whatever route you take, you’ll turn those carrot tops you grow right back into the best fertilizer around, which will help you grow more food!

Or, if you’re not faint of heart, wiggle into vermicompsting.  That’s right, worms. See how I set up my worm bin and how you can too.

Related Content:

• Creative Green Workshops: Organic Gardening, Sustainable Kitchens and More!
• Shiny, Happy People…Mixing Dirt
• MinifarmBox: Grow Your Own Not So Mini-Veggies
• (G)row (I)t (Y)ourself with the Gardenerd
• Wonderfully Woolly Living Walls and Floors