*Note: This post originally appeared on The Red Chef of NJ Facebook page
Happy June, fellow survivors! American summer is here, and it’s starting to look like we may all make it out of this yet. That makes this a great time to talk about growing food, and non-traditional gardening for those of us without the option of outdoor planting.
Growing your own food even in small amounts is really helpful in stretching out store bought supplies, and is a huge asset for food independence. But because of the effort and space involved, unless you’re a farmer by trade, most people grow food for fun, not necessity. That’s been changing in recent years as subsistence farming and sustainable living have grown more necessary, but available land still remains the biggest hurdle most of us face. It only requires a few acres to grow enough food to sustain a family, but if you’re sharing a postage-stamp sized Brooklyn studio with six roommates, it might as well take a plot of land the size of Rhode Island for all the good it does you. Luckily, there are lots of small (and not-so-small) indoor grow options available even to beginners, that will let us raise everything from simple herbs to tomatoes to mushrooms, even lettuce and leafy greens.
(Sidenote: I’m going to use a lot of vocabulary words today. To save space, I’ve defined them at the bottom of the post. Just follow the asterisks!)
The first and most obvious option (which you might have noticed by now is my favorite place to start) is the traditional method of bringing the outdoors indoors; get some planters, fill them with dirt, hang some indoor grow-lights, and voila! Indoor garden! There’s downsides to this of course. Firstly, pots and planters take up a lot of space, especially for food plants. Secondly, setting up grow-lights requires at least some level of commitment to attaching some kind of supports to your walls/ceilings, or another kind of contraption to hold the lights in place. Aside from your initial setup cost of purchasing lights, planters, dirt, seeds, etc, you’ll also have to factor the cost of running grow-lights into your electricity bill; in someplace like NYC, with about middling power costs, a 320-watt light running 18hrs/day, 30 days a month, could add $35 to your bill (you can see how I calculated that number here). To really do it right, you’ll also have to have at least some understanding of the conditions your plants need, like amount of water and light, as well as amount and type of nutrients. Don’t worry though: A quick google search of “beginner’s guide to indoor gardening” will start you off on the right track, including what equipment to buy and what kinds of plants to start with. Isn’t technology fun?
On the other hand, if you’ve never gardened before or space is really at a minimum, hydroponics* is a great place to start. I recommend a self-contained system like Aerogarden***** which comes in several different sized units, from the small countertop model where I grow tomatoes, herbs, and flowers (SO GLAD I’VE HAD THIS DURING QUARANTINE!! Fresh cherry tomatoes in my pasta and salads, no trip to the grocery store required, and cooking herbs all year round) all the way up to stackable floor models that function as mini farms (I have two of them in my kitchen at Bed Bath Beyond and they are AWESOME. Y’all should come see it once we’re re-opened). Features vary between models, but all perform the same basic function at minimum: automatically turning lights on and off, circulating water, and alerting you when it’s time to add nutrients or refill the water tank. Seeds come pre-packaged in little pods that you pop into the unit, or you can buy empty pods and add your own seeds. A starter pack is included with every unit, as is a bottle of liquid nutrients. No prior gardening experience is required; IF YOU BOTHER TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS (cough*) you’ll find they’re not only simple and clear, they also have all kinds of great tips for when and how to harvest and trim plants, proper light cycles, advice on fertilizer, and more. I found that after a few rounds with my Aerogarden, my general gardening skills really improved, and my outdoor plants do better than ever. Aerogarden lights are also lower watt than your average grow-light, making them not only less expensive to run, but less of a fire hazard.
There’s other slightly more outside-the-box indoor grow options to look at, too! If you’re a fish aficionado, aquaponics** (not to be confused with aquaculture***), which combines hydroponics with an actual aquatic habitat that supports fish and other water life, is a great introduction to permaculture**** in general. You’ve got relatively low-cost options like the award-winning units at backtotheroots.com, all the way up to the commercial-sized setups offered at theaquaponicsource.com (highly recommend checking these guys out if you’re interested in learning more about aquaponics in general). I personally think this is a really fun option to try, especially if you’ve got kids.
A last major option for indoor gardening is mushrooms. Like aquaponics and hydroponics, mushroom farming can be done on a scale from a single food-grade bucket, all the way up to self-enclosed mini-farm setups. It can be relatively easy to do — obtain mushroom spawn, build a proper medium for them to grow in, stick it in a bucket and forget about it — inexpensive, and produces a nice variety of very useful foodstuffs; however, it’s not as straight-forward as traditional plant-growing, and requires proper know-how. Now I’ll be honest, I don’t have a ton of experience with this particular topic, so if you want to know more, I’m just going to send you straight to the experts at namyco.org (also check out this slightly-simpler breakdown at https://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Mushrooms). They recommend starting off with a kit (a mushroom-growing expert friend of mine recommends these), and I’m inclined to agree; much like the Aerogarden, when learning something new it’s good to take as many factors out of the equation as possible to reduce frustration and increase your chances of success. I had great success with an oyster mushroom kit once upon a time; easy, fun, and eventually delicious!
If you’re really dying to put your green thumb to the test but none of the above solutions work for you, there is one more option available: Community gardens. Community gardens are especially popular in urban areas, both as a way to create greenspaces and to help support low-income families with alternate food sources. They’re also a fun way to learn about gardening, meet your neighbors, or just get out in the sunshine! To learn more about community gardens or find one in your area, check out this site.
Well guys, this was a really fun topic to cover, and I hope I was able to introduce you to something new. I’m still something of a beginner myself when it comes to indoor gardening, and helping introduce all of you to it gives me an excuse to learn more myself. If you’ve got information or expertise about various types of permaculture, mushroom-growing, or sustainable farming in general, please comment below because I would really love to hear from you! Sharing knowledge is how we all learn more, and learning more is how we work together to build a better, healthier, more sustainable future for everyone.
Until next time!
TERMS USED TODAY
*Hydroponics: cultivating plants in water using artificial lighting and water-soluble nutrients.
**Aquaponics: a system combining conventional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment
***Aquaculture: raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish, or prawns in tanks
****Permaculture: the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient
*****Full disclosure: Aerogarden has provided sponsorship to me at my day job, but is in no way affiliated with today’s post