In Defense of Microclimates

Do you ever find areas around your home/apartment that are either hotter or colder than other areas? Have you noticed that the areas closer to your home/apartment hardly ever have frost or certain areas with have all the shade so that you can't grow any of your sun loving plants? Well, if that's the case... use them.

If you can't change your location then use what you have and grow what you can. Do a bit of research on what plants grow in the conditions that you think you cannot grow anything in and use it to your advantage. If you love working with fibers and would like to grow your own dye plants then see if you have a shady area that you can grow some plants in. If you live in an area with an HOA that doesn't allow food crops but that allows flowers add some black eyed susans, woad, indigo, etc.. that are not used for food, but that you can still use for dying fabric, yarn, thread, or trade with others for their food crops. If you have a spot that is colder than others but that gets some sun during the year see about adding some dwarf fruit trees that require a few more chill hours so that they won't get frost damage so that you get something delicious out of a spot that was troublesome before. As I said before, gardeners seem to be eternal optimists if you find a spot that does not work, or you don't think it will work get together with another gardener and I'm sure you'll think of tons of options that could work for you.
Example: When Jed and I lived in Morro Bay we lived in a tiny apartment that could probably fit in our present day living room. I had no place to plant but what I did have was a sidewalk that was facing west. I asked if I could incorporate planters onto our sidewalk and with the go ahead I was able to line the sidewalk with planters. In those planters we (the royal we, Jed is not really a plant sort of person) were able to grow potatoes, onions, herbs, a kefir lime, raspberries, as well as other cool weather crops that require long dark hours. Remember, no matter how hopeless it seems, even if it's a north facing window sill, if you want some fresh veg, you can always find ways of growing some. For those of you addicted to Pintrest, I'm sure there are tons of fabulous apartment ideas that can work for different living situations. Take a look around and try it out. The worst that can happen is that you won't end up with veg, the best is that you will enjoy fresh veg from your labors.