The Project: Produce fresh organic veggies 4 stories up. I’m determined to prove it’s possible to live in an apartment and still eat food you’ve grown yourself.
ignore the disturbing patriarchal message in the photo.
The challenge: Do it on the cheap, using recycled, free, or found materials.
This summer I’m going to see how much food I can produce on a 12 ft by 4ft south facing balcony and the first 2 feet just inside my apartment. When I decided to do this I started looking on the internet and library for information on vegetable container gardening. Surprisingly there is very little information out there. I’m a trained Organic gardener so I thought why not, through trial and error, create my own website that would track my progress and provide information on exactly that, apartment container gardneing.
I want to see if it is possible for people without access to land to grow fresh organic produce on their balconies and inside their homes. I’m using found/salvaged/built containers to grow my veggies in. At each step I’ll post detailed information on the supplies I’m using, the problems I’m facing, the solutions I find and the results I get.
This project is rife with problems, not the least of which is the possibility that my balcony will rip itself from the building due to the weight of the wet soil (1sq ft of wet soil weights 100-150 lbs). But I’m determined to make it work! So follow along, join me, create you’re own apartment garden and post questions and advice.
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April 10, 2009 at 11:40 am
MooCow
One word: Earthbox. Heart them. Actually the one we had last year really didn’t do all that well, but that was poor plant choice on our part and that we planted really late. But in theory, they’re great! We ordered another one for this year. I’m curious to see how your project turns out. We’ve got a large, but shaded screened porch on the second floor.
Also, hi!
April 11, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Broc Coli
Hi MooCow!!
I’m glad you like the Earthbox, I looked at their website and it seems like a good small space solution. My only problem with it is the soil/fertilizer issue. You end up keeping your plants in sterile potting mix and feeding them with a fairly high concentration of N-P-K chemical/organic fertilizer. I just posted about soil and the issues with fertilizers with a high concentration of N-P-K, but basically they don’t supply all the nutrients the plants need and the ones they do encourage rapid plant growth which makes the plants looks really nice on the outside but inside they are weak and not getting everything they need to be happy and healthy plants and veggies.
Kale and lettuces are good in partial shade, I’ll look into more shade plants for you. Unfortunately most veggies need 7-11 hours of sunlight a day. Winter veggies need less, about 6-4 so they might be a good bet (but the summer might be too hot for them). You could always place some mirrors around your porch to try and reflect some light. I’ll see what I can find
April 14, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Pamela
Hi there! Thanks for popping over to my blog. I’m'a hafta watch yours, too.
You had asked about The Bountiful Container, and I answered over there in case anyone else had the same question, but I wanted to make sure you saw the answer because I think the book will dovetail perfectly with what you’re wanting to do here. Here’s what I said over there:
Yeah, my worms only get the black soy ink, no color in their worlds.
Every plant recommended for growing in The Bountiful Container – and there are a lot – has at least edible parts. There are some flowers in there, as well as herbs, but they’re the edible sort like nasturtiums. While the authors of the book are very aware of design principles and encourage you to make your container gardens attractive, they’re also aware of the dearth of container garden books devoted to useful plants, rather than just decorative. There are quite a lot of edibles that lend themselves to gardening in containers, some of which surprised me. If you’re wanting to eat what you grow, this book is a great place to start. One caution: the authors don’t hew solely to organic practices, and some of the types of veggies they recommend growing in containers are hybrids (mainly plants that have been bred to grow well in more compact spaces). If you’re wanting to take a more organic and no-hybrid approach, you’ll need to do some adapting of your practices. But the book is packed with so much valuable info for people who want to grow food in containers. I don’t think you’ll go wrong if you buy this one. (Or check it out from the library.)
Thanks again for reading my blog. Please come back! I love my wormies and talk about them a lot, and you seem familiar with the world of wigglers, and also, for all that I am building raised beds, I’m doing a fair amount of my gardening in containers. Maybe we can compare notes.
April 14, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Pamela
I should say, also, that the veggies in the book far outnumber the herbs, flowers, and fruit trees. There’s hardly a major category of “traditional” veggies that isn’t covered. No asparagus, more’s the pity, but tomatoes, beans, cukes, peas…………
April 14, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Broc Coli
Thanks so much for the info!! I already looked in my city’s library and they don’t have it! Which is surprising since I live in a fairly large, green city. Oh well, I’m never sad to add to my veggie library. If you’re interested I just started a book tonight called “the Kitchen Garden” by Sylvia Thompson, which has already been very helpful. I found it at a used book store and bought it on the spot. It covers every veggie imaginable and tells you everything you’d want to know about it. While it is meant for people with access to land she also tells you what size container it would need if you were to container garden it. Wonderful!