Thursday, July 28, 2011

My Garden IS Growing

EIEIO! WOW! This Bathroomfarmer is pleased to report that my garden is growing. I spent time this afternoon rearranging the BathroomFarm and being generally pleased with the progress I am seeing. The seedlings I planted were in questionable shape from lack of light and cool temperatures while I was waiting for room renovations to be finished but most of them rebounded nicely and are growing like crazy!


I made a few changes on the wall. Because two more of the tomato plants did not thrive, I discarded them and planted carrot and radish seeds in their place. I have this idea to execute my projects with the phases of the moon in a farmer almanac-y kind of way, so I decided adding root veggies to the wall during the waning moon was a good move keeping with the folklore of farming.

I also compressed the farm into a smaller space to take better advantage of the light I designed. I want to stick to using upcycled food containers on the wall for awhile because this is the lowest skill and cost option. I want everyone to be able to achieve good results with indoor growing with minimum expense.

Some collard greens seedlings were planted upside down in a bottle on the left. The tomato plant originally in there was the first to die. It's better to plant the upside down plants in the bottle first, but I carefully inserted the little seedlings with the help of an ice tea spoon and I'm hoping for the best! The green pepper plant planted upside down next to it was in very bad shape when I planted it but is growing well now!

I tidied up the inside of my garden shed which
is second hand metal shelving covered with upcycled bedsheet. There were already two pots of cucumbers growing on top of it. I added some small terra cotta pots of herbs that I started on my window ledge next to my desk. I noticed when I water the plants in the milk cartons on the wall, the excess water drips through the holes punched into the bottoms directly onto the pots below! There is a south facing window next to the garden shed and I have had good results in the past growing houseplants here. I do have one of the floor lamp bulbs focused on this area, too.



The third growing area is the large pot on the floor in front of the wall with a right angle trellis made from an upcycled display easel behind it. Everything in this pot is doing well. The midget melons are ambitiously vining toward the wall. The tomato, green pepper, and lettuce plants are all growing. I sowed some more lettuce seeds in there and those are sprouting. I added just a few carrot seeds today to see how they would do.

The spinach and Swiss chard greens in the hanging basket by my ceiling light replaced with a grow bulb have also sprouted. I have a few new seeds started on the window ledge next to my desk. The collards were transplanted today, but the only other one that's sprouted is chili pepper. I will be starting new seeds with regularity because the idea
is to have a continuously producing garden. It's nice to be able to disregard the seasons. It's equally nice to garden in an airconditioned room, far away from the dreadful Indiana heat and humidity! I DO keep this room warmer than my bedroom adjoining it during the day but let it cool down a little during the nights. It seems to be working.

6 comments:

  1. Love this. Just curious, does this bathroom also function as your bathroom?

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  2. Glad you like it! Yes, this is my actual, real bathroom, too. In a momentary lapse of sanity, I did consider turning my bathtub into a tiny fish farm, but I like the idea of soaking in a hot bubbly tub in the dead of winter and eating fresh fruits and vegetables off the vine 1940s Hollywood style. This house was built in 1892 so the loo is roomy (lest ladies get wedged in with their voluminous dresses). Since the doorway into the library has been sealed on the side of the bathroom opposite the bathroomfarm, I have enough space for a little office. It's a good thing because it's the only place this far back in the house that the WiFi works!

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  3. Wow! I found you on twitter! I grow some plants in my kitchen year round, but I never thought of the bathroom. I have a sky light and an unused whirlpool tub. I grow my veggies on my deck in the summer in containers. I am so glad I found you -- I have a quilt blog, but I also blog about my container garden...( think of it as my outside quilts) I have lot to learn about gardening! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. I'm so glad to meet you! This is a great time to think about creating indoor grow rooms and vertical gardens in particular because there is a lot of new information and products evolving to make this work. I'm sure you're already looking at your bathroom differently! Since you have the luxury of an unused tub, you might check out backyardfishfarm.com because they are into hydroponic systems of herbs, vegetables and fish. I thought about trying that in my own space because I share a giant house and can use other bathrooms but the fantasy of lounging in a hot, bubbly tub in the dead of winter and snacking on fresh fruits and vegetables was overwhelming! It's "very Hollywood c. 1940s" to have a garden in the loo!

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  5. Cool! I love the idea of utilizing space in the bathroom for gardening.

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  6. I would like to see a new trend of space in buildings, particularly residential buildings, being designed specifically for growing plants. The 1892 house I live in was built with a plant stand to optimize light exposure with tall windows and has a lead heat retaining surface. It would be very cool in the 21st century to have a similar space with solar-powered light and warming surfaces. There is huge interest in my BathroomFarm project and many good reasons to encourage indoor growing in these modern times. There isn't much information about doing this sort of thing, though. Hopefully, I am adding some practical information to make this simple for everyone.

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