Shade and Container Gardening

One of the things I most wanted to do this year was start a small vegetable garden.  I was willing to go with a container garden, since I knew we would be moving and didn't know what the conditions would be like.  I had looked into ideas for hanging tomato plants to make the most out of balconies, what kinds of containers I could get my hands on, and even looking into various supply places that offer rack type systems for urban gardening.  I had it all figured out in my mind once we realized what apartment complex we were intending to move into.  I would make use of every inch of that space, if possible, with money saving plants.  Better still, the greenery would help to beautify my apartment, keep nosy neighbors from being able to get too great of a view in the house, and otherwise improve my living conditions.

Here's where my brilliant plan went wrong.  We happened to get a North facing apartment.  What did this mean for my gardening?  While there are plenty of plants that enjoy growing in full shade, fruits and vegetables aren't in that number.  While there are some vegetables, like greens (lettuce, broccoli, and that kind of thing) and root vegetables (potatoes, etc) are happy to grow in the shade, they need at least some sun every day to grow at all.  Well, there goes that idea!  Now if I want a vegetable garden, I'm going to have to employ the use of grow lamps so that I can get anything to grow!  So much for sustainable living!  I wonder if my yield in vegetables would justify the expense of electricity for the grow lamps...

I'm learning day by day that this sustainable living stuff is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, especially if you don't live in the ideal conditions for it.  I've heard wonderful stories about rooftop container gardens, sustainable gardens in back yards, and so much more, but as fate would have it, I don't have the conditions for any of those things.

I guess I'm going to have to wait until we can own our own land or move to somewhere more ideal for gardening for that to happen.  It's sad that one of my sustainable living dreams is so easily knocked down because of the situation we have to be in, or at least we have to be more creative about it.  I guess at this time I need to stop and focus on other things, like living a more healthy lifestyle, producing less waste, and being as environmentally aware as possible in other respects.