Not much room? Try container gardening on for size

 It's all well and good for those living in rural areas of Lunenburg County to put the hours and dedication required into planning, nurturing and harvesting from their own private vegetable gardens.

 Most folks living outside of town centres don't have any issue with finding the land necessary on their property to plant even the smallest of outdoor gardens.

 But for those who live in more compacted villages and towns, the matter of finding space to let your veggies grow wild and free can be a much more significant challenge.

 In fact, the lack of space is often a complete deterrent for those who, under other circumstances, would consider growing their own garden crops.

 But, in recent years, as urban sprawl has spread, so too has the concept of container gardening, as a means of enabling those living in apartments or those without much property to play with to do a little home growing of their own.

 Container gardening is a really simple concept - you take simple, small containers that could be placed anywhere throughout your house, on windowsills or, perhaps, on a back stoop, if available, and by choosing the right variety of fruit or vegetable, you bring what is traditionally an outdoor, in-ground crop into your home.

 Your containers can be pretty much anything, but container gardening is a really great chance to reuse old products, rather than specifically purchasing new pots.

 You can use anything from your old flower pots to strawberry or orange boxes, nursery flats, buckets or ice cream and yogurt containers.

 When you're choosing your containers, one thing you should always do is ensure there are a few holes punctured in the bottom of the container, so that any excess water can freely drain away from soil and prevent wet roots.

 You should also try to be aware of the size of plant you'll be growing - for instance, a tomato plant will likely require a larger space, perhaps a 24-inch container, in order to ensure it has the soil space required to grow.

 Ultimately, you want to choose both your potential produce and your planting space carefully.

 Gardening Life recommends that two to three lettuce and spinach plants or a dozen radish or green onion plants are best suited to eight-inch or one-gallon containers.

 When choosing what it is, exactly, that you want to grow, you may want to consider selecting dwarf varieties of common garden staples, such as tomatoes.

 But the reality is that, no matter what your tastes, most garden produce can be adapted to growing in your own private little container garden.

 It's also critical to be mindful of the kind of soil you're using.

 Chances are, given the space you have to deal with and the types of container you'll be using, the typical soil that you would use from your garden is going to be too heavy to suit your purposes, plus it may not let the water drain well.

 Instead, if you try using a potting mix, you'll likely get your best growing results - plus it will be a much less arduous task for you as the indoor grower.

 You probably won't need to water your container garden plants as often as you would if you were dealing with an outdoor garden.

 The reason for that is that there is a finite amount of soil in each container and the water cannot run off into adjacent soils as it could outdoors.

 That having been said, you should also be aware that exposure to sunlight and even the colour of your container can have an impact on how much water your would-be produce will require - the darker the colour, the more sunlight and heat the container and the soil will absorb.

 So, while you might not need the same amount of space for a container garden, you still need to ensure that your plants are getting the proper amount of attention to ensure that they flourish.