Expensive to set up and space- and labor-intensive. Plus I don't have that much space to place a hydroponic garden, enough that would render sufficient food for the winter. Also it takes energy (grow lights, temperature settings) to do it right.
Now if I had access to a barn or warehouse (neither of which I have) and enough capital to invest in it (which I don't) then it might be feasible. Economics plays a role in these decisions, so with cash and space, I don't have the requisite basics to start a hydroponics garden that would provide meaningful amounts of food.
You'd be better off growing potatoes inside in containers over winter. They are amazingly hard to not grow. All they need is a sunny window & water, they'll do the rest. Put containers outside after last frost March/April and harvest in 2 months. Good way to kickstart your good weather gardening.
labor wise is no worse than outdoor gardening, in fact some may argue it’s easier because no weeding. You’re correct that it’s pricey to set up though, especially the grow lights.
There are other options however. You can grow a lot of things over. winter in cold frames for example. Kale, carrots, spinach, many other cold hardy veg will do just fine in a cold frame. If you have southern facing windows in your home you’d be surprised what you can get to grow in them in containers.
The main thing though is planning and growing things in the summer that store for many months. There are varieties of onion, carrot, squash, and potatoes that will store in the ground or in a root cellar for several months. And although relying on the power grid isn’t ideal, you can get a chest freezer and stock up a LOT of veg (i currently have several pounds of frozen okra in my fridge) and don’t forget learning to can. Canned veg can last up to 2 years.
While it is the wrong time of year to start on a lot of these things, it’s never the wrong time to start learning and planning.
Just to add here a little bit, it can be expensive to set up. I just spent maybe 400 bucks to set up a system using the Kratky method, tent, LED light, medium, nutes, seeds, containers and net pots. Granted, the veggies you can grow in there are somewhat limited, but will be a good supplement to what I saved from the summer. I should mention, in that seed order are my summer seeds also and they are unusual heirloom varieties, so could have been cheaper. Check your local nurseries for leftover seeds from this year on sale.
Look up growing food indoors wall hydroponics ....there's too many vids on youtube to count. You only need a wall and it can be done cheap with materials you can pick up at any home depot, like plumbing pipe. I picked a really easy, cheap one to get you started on the search
We can’t do it alone. We need to work as a community. You can easily fit a 5x10 tent with lights inside and just focus on 1 plant like organic tomatoes. Then trade the tomatoes with others for whatever veggie you need. Food can easily be traded in a nationwide indoor farming economy where we all focus on at least 1 kind of veggie.
So if carrots are lacking in 1 neighborhood, I would grow carrots because I can easily trade them due to high demand and low supply. No competition.
Learn/teach yourself how to fertilize soil by planting seeds; then grow your understanding of perspective...your choice represents the seed; the reality you perceive represents the soil. Fertilize that. Use your neighborhood for growth, and the more you do this; the more help you will get. Any empty garden is only a question away from being usable for growth. Show others how to grow food or make fertilizer on a balcony.
Still one of the best & least expensive ways to put back a lot of food quickly.
I was amazed at the variations between different brands for flavor & texture. Some of the store brands (beets, carrots, tomatoes) are much better & cheaper than branded ones. I like canned beans over dried as they are easy, less prep. If I found a baked beans recipe that I liked am sure I'd change my opinion. Have yet to make anything with dried beans I wanted to eat again. Rice & pasta, about as easy as it gets. I keep them stored in tightly lidded containers otherwise bugs will love them. Same for flour. They keep a long time this way if kept away from high temps without oxygen absorbers or gamma buckets.
Look for the baked bean recipe from Durgin Park. It was one of the oldest restaurants in the US before it recently closed down. I cater and I sell them at every bbq I do, to rave reviews.
Thanks, will give that a shot. Have actually eaten at the Durgin Park at Faneuil Hall Boston years back. Don't recall having their beans though. I grew up on the west coast and there was a BBQ chain called Love's. Their baked beans were spectacular, have been looking for a replacement ever since.
I did read to freeze all beans, flour, grains for several days first ( to kill any larvae like pantry moths) then remove from freezer and store in a dark place. Freezing will help those foods stay fresher for longer!
Same thing I was thinking.
Then I considered setting up in my basement, but then my cats would destroy it, the grow lights would probably get expensive, yet my computers would help keep the temp in a decent range down there this winter, and I just overall don't have enough space down there.
I planted a garden this spring, and have every year past since I've lived here in 2013. I want to do raised beds or get plastic, because the weeds grow a lot and takeover what I planted.
As I learned as a young lad, when my parents always had a garden out back, "weeding" is a necessary activity and we kids had to do it once a week. Backbreaking work, pulling up weeds in a garden (ours was about 1/4 acre) but undesirable weeds steal nutrients from the desirable plants so they HAVE to be pulled up by the roots. Today I grow (in spring and summer) a smaller garden plot with tomatoes and other edibles, and even as small as it is, I weed once a week. It keeps me in touch with the earth and in touch with the way I was raised.
My nemesis these days is the horn worm... a.k.a. the tomato worm. It's green and hard to spot amongst the green leaves of the tomato plant... but to spot one you have to look for parts of the vine that have been stripped of leaves. Look closely on that vine or nearby and you'll find the little bugger. I always dispatch them by removing them to a spot on my driveway where they can be seen, and the birds do the rest. It's interesting to watch as the birds swoop in for the kill.
And that's been my problem. We have about 40 or so chickens, 10 peafowl, cats, and dogs, and an almost 1 year old son, and another child on the way. Plus I have my own biz. So finding time to weed my garden was hard. Our tomatoes did pretty good after I addressed blossom end rot. The horn worms I would also find them from the nubs. When I found them, I took them straight to my chickens to tear apart.
Our broccoli didn't do great. The plants got big but didn't produce a lot of heads. Our cabbage and lettuce did real well in late spring/early summer. The peppers took forever to grow and produced but the weeds took over by then and I didn't have much time or interest in maintaining it.
Same for the potatoes.
If you have the available room with proper temps you can overwinter your pepper plants for the next year and get a much earlier start. That's what I'm doing this year with my super hots. There are many videos online that will demonstrate how to prune the plant back to just a few main branches and dig the plant out of ground to pot it up for storage.
i’m hoping to try garden fabric next year and see how that does. I used mulch this year and it was definitely helpful but I still
had loads of creeping charlie and some dandelions to deal with.
This year I did raised beds with cinder blocks. Not the prettiest option but cheap and I put my herbs in the holes of the block on the perimeter. First year doing it and it worked great. Had cilantro and dill when I harvested my cucumbers and maters.
Hard to do that with winter coming on. I've stored canned goods and dry foods (rice, beans, pasta) and water for whatever is coming.
Hydroponics is year round. Indoors.
Expensive to set up and space- and labor-intensive. Plus I don't have that much space to place a hydroponic garden, enough that would render sufficient food for the winter. Also it takes energy (grow lights, temperature settings) to do it right.
Now if I had access to a barn or warehouse (neither of which I have) and enough capital to invest in it (which I don't) then it might be feasible. Economics plays a role in these decisions, so with cash and space, I don't have the requisite basics to start a hydroponics garden that would provide meaningful amounts of food.
^^^All the above.
You'd be better off growing potatoes inside in containers over winter. They are amazingly hard to not grow. All they need is a sunny window & water, they'll do the rest. Put containers outside after last frost March/April and harvest in 2 months. Good way to kickstart your good weather gardening.
Do you just cut up a potato and plant it? One time my potatoes grew through the bag when i forgot about them
labor wise is no worse than outdoor gardening, in fact some may argue it’s easier because no weeding. You’re correct that it’s pricey to set up though, especially the grow lights.
There are other options however. You can grow a lot of things over. winter in cold frames for example. Kale, carrots, spinach, many other cold hardy veg will do just fine in a cold frame. If you have southern facing windows in your home you’d be surprised what you can get to grow in them in containers.
The main thing though is planning and growing things in the summer that store for many months. There are varieties of onion, carrot, squash, and potatoes that will store in the ground or in a root cellar for several months. And although relying on the power grid isn’t ideal, you can get a chest freezer and stock up a LOT of veg (i currently have several pounds of frozen okra in my fridge) and don’t forget learning to can. Canned veg can last up to 2 years.
While it is the wrong time of year to start on a lot of these things, it’s never the wrong time to start learning and planning.
Just to add here a little bit, it can be expensive to set up. I just spent maybe 400 bucks to set up a system using the Kratky method, tent, LED light, medium, nutes, seeds, containers and net pots. Granted, the veggies you can grow in there are somewhat limited, but will be a good supplement to what I saved from the summer. I should mention, in that seed order are my summer seeds also and they are unusual heirloom varieties, so could have been cheaper. Check your local nurseries for leftover seeds from this year on sale.
Look up growing food indoors wall hydroponics ....there's too many vids on youtube to count. You only need a wall and it can be done cheap with materials you can pick up at any home depot, like plumbing pipe. I picked a really easy, cheap one to get you started on the search
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLEVQw-bHhc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UB7HEy4WJk
We can’t do it alone. We need to work as a community. You can easily fit a 5x10 tent with lights inside and just focus on 1 plant like organic tomatoes. Then trade the tomatoes with others for whatever veggie you need. Food can easily be traded in a nationwide indoor farming economy where we all focus on at least 1 kind of veggie.
So if carrots are lacking in 1 neighborhood, I would grow carrots because I can easily trade them due to high demand and low supply. No competition.
Learn/teach yourself how to fertilize soil by planting seeds; then grow your understanding of perspective...your choice represents the seed; the reality you perceive represents the soil. Fertilize that. Use your neighborhood for growth, and the more you do this; the more help you will get. Any empty garden is only a question away from being usable for growth. Show others how to grow food or make fertilizer on a balcony.
I take my chicken coop bedding and mulch my plants. No weeds plus fertilizer
Or if you cycle the hydroponics through a fish tank, the nutrients from the plants can feed the fish and the fish poop fertilizes the plants.
True. That is called aquaponics.
Thanks, I remembered the term after.
(Although that + it's more intricate than that is the limit of my knowledge on the subject)
Aquaponics
Thanks, I only remembered after.
Still one of the best & least expensive ways to put back a lot of food quickly.
I was amazed at the variations between different brands for flavor & texture. Some of the store brands (beets, carrots, tomatoes) are much better & cheaper than branded ones. I like canned beans over dried as they are easy, less prep. If I found a baked beans recipe that I liked am sure I'd change my opinion. Have yet to make anything with dried beans I wanted to eat again. Rice & pasta, about as easy as it gets. I keep them stored in tightly lidded containers otherwise bugs will love them. Same for flour. They keep a long time this way if kept away from high temps without oxygen absorbers or gamma buckets.
Look for the baked bean recipe from Durgin Park. It was one of the oldest restaurants in the US before it recently closed down. I cater and I sell them at every bbq I do, to rave reviews.
Thanks, will give that a shot. Have actually eaten at the Durgin Park at Faneuil Hall Boston years back. Don't recall having their beans though. I grew up on the west coast and there was a BBQ chain called Love's. Their baked beans were spectacular, have been looking for a replacement ever since.
I did read to freeze all beans, flour, grains for several days first ( to kill any larvae like pantry moths) then remove from freezer and store in a dark place. Freezing will help those foods stay fresher for longer!
Same thing I was thinking. Then I considered setting up in my basement, but then my cats would destroy it, the grow lights would probably get expensive, yet my computers would help keep the temp in a decent range down there this winter, and I just overall don't have enough space down there.
I planted a garden this spring, and have every year past since I've lived here in 2013. I want to do raised beds or get plastic, because the weeds grow a lot and takeover what I planted.
As I learned as a young lad, when my parents always had a garden out back, "weeding" is a necessary activity and we kids had to do it once a week. Backbreaking work, pulling up weeds in a garden (ours was about 1/4 acre) but undesirable weeds steal nutrients from the desirable plants so they HAVE to be pulled up by the roots. Today I grow (in spring and summer) a smaller garden plot with tomatoes and other edibles, and even as small as it is, I weed once a week. It keeps me in touch with the earth and in touch with the way I was raised.
My nemesis these days is the horn worm... a.k.a. the tomato worm. It's green and hard to spot amongst the green leaves of the tomato plant... but to spot one you have to look for parts of the vine that have been stripped of leaves. Look closely on that vine or nearby and you'll find the little bugger. I always dispatch them by removing them to a spot on my driveway where they can be seen, and the birds do the rest. It's interesting to watch as the birds swoop in for the kill.
And that's been my problem. We have about 40 or so chickens, 10 peafowl, cats, and dogs, and an almost 1 year old son, and another child on the way. Plus I have my own biz. So finding time to weed my garden was hard. Our tomatoes did pretty good after I addressed blossom end rot. The horn worms I would also find them from the nubs. When I found them, I took them straight to my chickens to tear apart.
Our broccoli didn't do great. The plants got big but didn't produce a lot of heads. Our cabbage and lettuce did real well in late spring/early summer. The peppers took forever to grow and produced but the weeds took over by then and I didn't have much time or interest in maintaining it. Same for the potatoes.
If you have the available room with proper temps you can overwinter your pepper plants for the next year and get a much earlier start. That's what I'm doing this year with my super hots. There are many videos online that will demonstrate how to prune the plant back to just a few main branches and dig the plant out of ground to pot it up for storage.
You should record their tiny screams of "Noooooooooooooooooo..."
Or, "HELP MEEEEE" 😁
i’m hoping to try garden fabric next year and see how that does. I used mulch this year and it was definitely helpful but I still had loads of creeping charlie and some dandelions to deal with.
Old newspaper works well as a weed too.
Get 2 chickens and let them in the garden every now and again. They took care of my potato beetles and they love horn worms.
Mulch or weed barrier FTW
This year I did raised beds with cinder blocks. Not the prettiest option but cheap and I put my herbs in the holes of the block on the perimeter. First year doing it and it worked great. Had cilantro and dill when I harvested my cucumbers and maters.
This is a good idea and I like it. I'm assuming you used potting soil in the block holes?
Just regular old top soil and some chicken bedding mulch.
In Guam I learned cats are tasty and a good source of protein
don't forget the seasoning.... CATsup!
Yeah, no, none of that.