Still don’t grow any of your own food? Even if you don’t have a front yard, backyard, or balcony to call your own — and even if the waiting list for a plot in your city’s community garden’s a mile long — you can still grown your own food, thanks to the generosity of your neighbors.

Yard-sharing’s a new big trend in locavoring — and a bunch of webby resources are popping up to help you get started — which is a good thing, except at this point there are so many websites eager to connect gardeners that it’s tough to know which are worth joining. Here’s what I would do to wade through the garden web:

1. Ask your landlord for gardening permission. That’s how Jenn and Nat got permission to turn the front yard of the Santa Monica apartment complex they live in into an edible garden! Assuming you get along with your landlord, there’s nothing to lose in asking nicely.

2. See if a city community garden plot’s available near you. Sure, many of these plots have years-long waiting lists — but you could get lucky! Angelenos can check out the list at the Los Angeles Community Garden Council site.

3. Look into local garden-sharing sites, since these are often the easiest ways to meet neighbors passionate about the same thing you are. Live in Santa Monica? Check out the Santa Monica Garden Sharing Registry run by the city. The Seattle area? Visit Urban Garden Share, started by some friends over a glass of bourbon. Portland? Try Portland Yard Sharing, and get the web administrator to correct the typo in “‘what’ is yars sharing” while you’re at it.

Can’t find a city-specific garden sharing site by googling? Try visiting Sharing Backyards, which features a handy Google map mashup so you can easily see if any open plots are near you before signing up. That said, you’ll need to sign up not through Sharing Backyards itself, but with one of its locally-oriented community partners. Just scan the list on the right side of the Sharing Backyards page to see if a partner exists in your city. In L.A., that partner is GardenSwap, a project of Cultivating Sustainable Communities.

4. Try a nationwide garden-sharing network. You’ll probably want to poke around a bit to find out which network’s got the most people signed up in your ‘hood before committing:

>> GrowFriend. Sign up on this free site — a free public service of Windowbox.com — to start finding a could-be-garden near you — or to rent out your front yard to a would-be-gardener. GrowFriend has a lot of helpful resources for those with questions about garden sharing, ranging from a downloadable garden sharing agreement a list of topics to discuss before starting the eco-neighborly venture.

>> Hyperlocavore. Join this free Ning group to find your next garden plot — or an entire community garden! Started by Liz McLellan, the goal of Hyperlocavore’s to “help you get in touch with like minded people who are hoping to set up a yard sharing arrangement, a group garden or a urban CSA of linked yards.” Sign up and you may find not just a plot — but an entire network of neighborhood gardeners to help you on your gardening way.

Related links:

Earlier:
>>12 signs of a sustainable food revolution in Los Angeles
>> Locavoring in a box: Organic CSAs in Los Angeles

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