New York - January 20, 2010
Plant the Seed
Windowfarms Urban Gardens
To view this video, you must have Flash Player 9.0 or later installed.
Click here to get the latest Flash player.
Farm to table? Please. Too far.
We’ve moved on to sourcing food directly from our apartment windows.
No joke. Thanks to Windowfarms — a new movement toward hydroponic, vertical farming in urban areas — we’re growing okra, cherry tomatoes, and lettuce from recycled water bottles in our windowsills.
In today’s video, artists/geniuses/Brooklynites Britta Riley and Maya Nayak explain their process, why it’s important, and why it’s, well, just plain awesome (it will impress your friends).
Just a heads up: Putting together the kits can get complicated and will require a few errands to get the parts — but it’s well worth having a garden at arm’s length.
We’ll bet the farm on that.
For more information and step-by-step instructions, go to windowfarms.org. To see a few of the things you’ll need to get started, check out our photo gallery.
MORE STUFF TO LOOK AT
Posted by TheyCallMeBenna on Jan 21, 2010 3:00:56 PM
i made one of these and grew strawberries -- they were amazing. cool video.
Posted by dstobbart on Jan 21, 2010 12:42:05 PM
This is a great idea. Idea for nutrients: Keep fresh water fish - goldfish, for instance. Once a week empty one fifth to one third of the water from your fish tank and replace it with new water (preferably water that has sat in a bucket for a day - to get rid of the chlorine). Empty the water you took out of the fish tank into your watering reservoir. This water will be rich in nitrates from your fish's "waste" which plants love. If you grow anything other than green leafy plants you may need to add very small amounts of calcium, and perhaps potassium, from time to time (once a month). However, you may get away without it since you use the clay as a solid medium in your pots, and this has trace amounts of the necessary elements. Also, depending on the food you give your fish, some of these may already be present in the uneaten food, and wil make their way into the water. Great idea - good luck!
Posted by shoesandbooze on Jan 20, 2010 12:37:39 PM
I can't wait to make my apartment a green green oasis of peace and nutrition!!
Posted by kooklabab on Jan 23, 2010 10:52:44 AM
Love the idea, one question any input appreciated. My granddaughter has a science project due in march. At christmas she recieved a bio dome kit by edu science for growong cacti n suculents indoors would you , anyone think that either of these would work for a 4th grade project? thanks