Healthy Sustainable Lifestyle

Vertical Gardens

It seems as though we are always looking for more space, whether it is for storing more things, looking for a space to park your car or trying to figure out how to grow more of the plants and flowers you enjoy.  Sometimes the answer is to go vertical.

Enjoy,

David Proctor

Urban Farmer

We may not live on a farm, but we can grow where we live.

Vertical Garden Farming

The concept of vertical gardening is to have plants growing in containers or on walls in a vertical fashion.  When watered, the nutrients will flow down, feeding the roots of the plants.

Vertical gardens can be with or without soil, just depends on how they are being held in place and which system you prefer.

One way to grow plants in a vertical configuration is a simple to-do method of stacking pots from large on the bottom then smaller going up.  With this method, as you water, the excess drains down to the bottom pot while spreading the nutrients as the water goes down.

A pallet can be used to grow vertical gardens by attaching landscape fabric to the back to hold the soil in and use L brackets to secure to fence or wall. Plants can then be placed in potting soil through the slats of the pallet.  Be sure the pallets have not been treated with chemicals.
http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/creating-a-pallet-garden-step-by-step-instructions/

This image from greenerideal.com

If you do not want to build your own system, there are many systems that can be ordered and put to use with minimal assembly.

The tower garden by Juice Plus+ is a nice system that runs about $525.00, this is a soil less system that comes complete, ready to use, and can be placed on a patio or deck.  It contains:

“The Tower Garden Growing System comes with everything you need to start growing vegetables, herbs, and fruits at home—including our specially formulated plant food and gourmet seeds.

This aeroponic 5-feet-tall vertical garden allows you to grow up to 20 plants in less time than it takes in soil.

Image from jenx67.com

The complete Growing System includes:
·         Tower Garden vertical aeroponic garden
·         Seeds for growing gourmet lettuce, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, basil, and cucumber
·         Seed starter enviro-dome
·         20 rock wool seed starter cubes and net pots
·         Pump, timer and drain tube
·         Tower Garden Mineral Blend plant food (1 qt each)
·         pH test kit and 1 bottle each of pH+ and pH-
·         Measuring cup
Product Benefits
·         Soil-free system means there is no weeding, tilling, kneeling, or getting dirty
·         No gardening experience is necessary
·         Fits easily on urban patios, decks, porches, balconies, terraces, or rooftop gardens
·         Grows many fruits and almost any vegetable, herb, or flower
·         Purchase an extension kit and grow up to 28 plants in one Tower
·         Uses as little as 10% of traditional growing nutrients & water
·         Yields up to 30% more produce on average compared to traditional gardening methods.
·         Can produce crops in less time than it takes to grow in soil
·         Made from USDA-approved, UV-stabilized, food-grade plastic”
http://www.towergarden.com/

Another system is Zipgrow, which is about half the price and can be used in a small area to grow herbs and vegetables. This is a really easy system to set up.  This is also made in the USA.

“The ZipGrow tower was intentionally designed with one thing in mind: simplicity.  A long-lasting tool that provides ultra high-yield, the ZipGrow tower will save you time and give you reliable production for years to come.

Image from aquaponicsplan.com

With no complex parts or set up, ZipGrow gives farmers what they need: more production with fewer complications.
And with greater simplicity comes greater scalability.”
https://www.brightagrotech.com/products/

Think about getting your kids involved with the growing process.  If they plant it they will probably be more likely to eat it.  Even if you do not have young ones, having fresh food from your planter will beat the supermarket’s food for taste and freshness. The health benefits alone make it worthwhile.

Vertical Aeroponic Technology: See How Tower Garden® Works

https://youtu.be/6SsN7DUlbo0

Why ZipGrow?

Check It Out!

   

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