I have had several people ask if I grow food indoors in the winter. The honest answer is not much, but I would like to do more. This time of year I like to be able to focus most of my time on school with our children and getting a plan for the next growing season. We enjoy our our canned, dehydrated, and frozen food from the summer, but fresh food is great. 

I did try an experiment last year with lettuce, and it worked pretty well. I used a plastic container that I just had sitting around and filled it with 3/4 compost and 1/4 peat moss. I started this on my main floor on a heat mat and kept the mix moist until the seeds sprouted. Then I brought it down to my basement where I keep my grow lights (if the artificial lights didn’t bother my eyes I would love to keep this on my main floor). 

Once the plants got about 4 inches, I cut them short and let them grow back. I fed them with fish emulsion the first time (bad idea since my house smelled terrible for a week) and then used worm castings with the second time. For our big family, I would need to figure out how to do this on a bigger scale to make it worth my time. I am hoping to grow some herbs and lettuce again sometime in the near future. 

Growing Food Indoors Part 2

A friend and newsletter subscriber shared what she is doing in her home with this grow tower in the pictures. The picture on the left is the beginning and the one on the right is a later one. I asked her how she liked it, and this was her response below. She gave me permission to share. I think this is very beautiful, and I love to learn from other people. 

“Yes, I do still like my Tower Garden! It is definitely a learning curve. Some things I have learned since I first started it in March – Don’t plant all the openings at the same time (unless you have a family your size). I got way too much of everything and couldn’t use it fast enough so a lot ended up as rabbit food. Then – cover up the opening where you haven’t planted to cut down on the algae. It is amazing how much I got first time around. I am still getting some, but not bad. Also – lettuce should be a “heartier” variety as without the soil, some of the lettuce can get a little “fragile”. I am still working on timing – when do I start new seedlings to keep the tower going for our needs but not produce too much. Also – it probably needs to be emptied and really cleaned at least 3 times a year as opposed to every 6 months. It is a learning curve, but something new and it really is nice to be able to go in to the living and cut fresh lettuce/greens for salads! Not cheap and if someone is really talented, they could probably design their own system.”

Do you grow food indoors? How do you do it? We would love to hear your ideas.