Gardening goes to the boys.

There’s a new crop of gardeners on the scene: they’re young, handsome, and they know their way around a pile of dirt. Some are latter-day hunter-gatherers and others are aesthetic geeks who drool over orchids like some dudes salivate over fantasy football trades.

The guy gardener is not an entirely original phenomenon. In the United States, The Men’s Garden Clubs of America (TGOA/MGCA) was first established in 1932 to promote camaraderie among men and facilitate community beautification as well as gardening education. Today, the organization has more than 2,800 members, though due to organizational changes in 1992, women are now amongst that number.

Meanwhile, across the pond in Surrey, England, Gerrard Winstanley and The Diggers started planting in 1649 as a form of public protest. Nowadays it’s called guerrilla gardening, a phrase coined by NYC activists in 1973 that’s being popularized anew by Richard Reynolds, shown here discussing seed bombs and the first manscaper on our list.

Richard Reynolds, 33
The Guerilla Gardener
London, UK

As Richard puts it, “Guerilla gardening is the illicit cultivation of someone else’s land.” In other words, it’s like squatting for geraniums. Apart from his own balcony garden, which he maintains communally with his neighbors atop a 10-story housing block, he takes care of seven guerilla gardens.

“My emphasis is on public and neglected property,” he says. “Using plants to make a provocative statement.” And, at times, a more romantic one. In a show of the couple that weeds together stays together, he recently proposed to his girlfriend on the same plot of lavenders where they first met five years ago. Remember that the next time someone compliments you on your tulips.

Mike Lieberman, 31
Urban Organic Gardener
Los Angeles, CA

Mike Lieberman insists he’s not a gardener.

“When I think ‘gardener,’” says the boy from Brooklyn, “I think of a middle-aged woman who’s been doing it just for the beauty of it and not considering all the other aspects.”

Aspects like taking on the industrialized food system and eating a predominantly plant-based diet.

The label-shy food cultivator started his first fire escape garden when he was living in the East Village in the spring of 2009. He’s been blogging about it since on his gardening blog, which averages about 1,000 hits a day.

“A lot of the information that’s out there in the gardening space is written for other gardeners. My blog is about raising awareness of the food system through fire escape and balcony gardening. I’m all about, grow one thing and you’re doing something. ”

Jason DaPonte, 35
Managing Director: The Swarm
London, UK

Full disclosure: I first met Jason DaPonte, Managing Director of The Swarm, during our university years. That means we spent a lot of time around loud music in dark clubs at odd hours of the night. Imagine my shock and awe when I discovered some 15 years later that he’s a mad cultivator of exotic orchids.

His Tumblr Growing Crazy, which is followed obsessively, recounts his adventures in taming his rooftop wilderness. Formerly an allotment gardener (the UK version of the plot system), he was kicked out for free-forming.

“I was planting so that it looked nice instead of keeping neat and tidy rows. That was against the rules.”

He’s also of the one-plant-at-a-time school of growing. “So many people say to me, I could never have a garden like yours. To them I say, well, start with one pot.”

Reggie Solomon, 35
reggieCasual and co-author of I Garden: Urban Style
New Haven, CT

Reggie is a basil and tomatoes kind of guy; you won’t find any flowers in his patch unless they’re marigolds that have offered themselves up as “sacrificial lambs to the aphids that attack my garden.”

He argues that there are two uniquely contemporary factors that draw men to gardening: one, a burgeoning interest in DIY organic sustainability employing a “control what you grow” brand of logic, and two, “Society gets away with saying males can’t also be producers, you know, ‘manning up’ to go gardening. But there is something unconscious happening here. Men want to be physically responsible for something and produce with their own hands.”

There’s a social component in it, too, says Reggie. He has two gardening buddies that pop by his house when they’re in the mood for cultivating some herbs or pruning some vines. In the winter they make beer together, in the summer they grow together. It’s an arrangement made in bro’ heaven.

Michael Nolan, 38
Co-Author of I Garden: Urban Style, Founder of My EarthGarden, Food Advocate and Public Speaker
Birmingham, AL

“I’ve been gardening since I was a kid,” explains Michael Nolan. “I was always sorta fascinated with the whole idea of the way things grew.”

Like most of the other guys featured here, Michael sticks to the edibles, but tries to strike an aesthetic balance. “I’m working on the first-ever Steampunk themed garden now: a combination of wild edibles, herbs, flowers and lots of rust.”

Michael predicts that the trend of men gardening will continue to grow vertically in the years to come. “It goes beyond being the cool thing to do these days. Guys are taking better care of themselves and growing your own food is a logical step in that direction. Plus, chicks dig gardeners.”

It’s true.

Richard Reynold’s image: Alessandro Rota

Main image: Solly Markovitch

The post Manscaping: These Guys Have Stems Attached appeared first on EcoSalon.

Guest authorUrban gardening expert Mike Lieberman shares his tips.

The number one excuse that apartment dwellers have when it comes to growing their own vegetables is that they have no space. They also believe that growing one or two things is a complete waste.

These are just excuses. Lots of space isn’t required. What is required is a bit of creativity. It’s worth the time and effort if you grow even one herb or vegetable. It will make a difference.

Did you know that on average food travels 1,500 miles to get to our plates? By growing some of your own, it will help to cut back on the intensive resources that go into food production and transportation. It will also help you to re-establish your connection with food. There are plenty of simple reasons that I can list to grow your own food.

I started apartment gardening in the spring of 2009 on my fire escape in New York City. Despite being on 2′ x 3′, I was able to grow plenty of veggies. Since then, I’ve moved to Los Angeles and now have a balcony garden.

Growing veggies without much land can be your reality, too. Here’s how you can start your own vegetable container garden.

Decide on a Location

First thing is first. You need to pick the location where you are going to start. An important factor to take into consideration is how far from the water source your garden will be. The last thing you want to do is be carrying water through your apartment to your garden, but there are ways around that.

Don’t Just Think of the Floor

After deciding the where, you need to figure the area that you are working with. Don’t just think of the space on the ground. Think windowsills, ledges, railings and the space above you. Get creative.

Conditions of the Area

Figure out how much direct and indirect sunlight your space gets. If it gets at least 2-3 hours of direct sunlight, you are good to grow. My balcony garden is east facing and gets about 4-6 hours of early morning sunlight, so I grow what works best in those conditions.

What to Grow In

You can either go to the store and buy some containers or make self-watering planters, which is what I use. Self-watering planters use two containers and require little maintenance after they are built. They are constructed from two 5-gallon containers (you can get these from your local flower shop, deli, restaurant or farmers market for little to no money).

If you have the space to hang some plants, then you can use soda bottles to make hanging planters or buy new ones. Herbs such as basil, oregano and mint do well in these.

What to Grow

This is the big decision. What will you grow?

This could very well be determined for you by your space and sun conditions. Since I get limited sun on my balcony and use smaller containers, my selection is pretty small.

From there, you can grow things that you know you like and will eat or you can experiment with new veggies or new versions of veggies that you like. That’s up to you.

I always suggest growing greens and lettuces because they don’t get to be too big, grow pretty easily and you know that you’ll use them.

Herbs are the other thing that I recommend. They are likely the best economic value. When you buy herbs in the store, you have to buy a huge bushel when you only need a few pieces. Most usually goes to waste. By growing your own, you can take what you need and let it continue to grow. It’ll always be on hand.

No Excuses

Now you have a foundation to get your urban vegetable garden started. You don’t have to plant a ridiculous amount. Remember, just one plant will make a difference. We are humans. We grown food. Land, space, money and lack of experience shouldn’t be excuses. If I can do this, why can’t you?

Guest author Mike Lieberman is the man behind Urban Organic Gardener, where he share his expertise on urban gardening, green living, and real food. You can also connect with Mike on Twitter and Facebook.

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