Free Lunch for the BathroomFarm

I have to be a little bit careful about letting people into the inner sanctum of my sustainist lifestyle where doing more with less is a way of life. One day I happened to open my freezer in the presence of a longtime friend who happened to notice an unusual container in there. Not being shy, he had to inquire why I keep garbage in there. Uh-oh.

It wasn't ANY OLD GARBAGE. No-sir-ee. It was the beginnings of a new carefully curated experiment of supplementing specific nutrients in the BathroomFarm. I don't have a worm bin of my own, so I order worm poo (castings) from an Etsy seller which is an ideal all-purpose fertilizer to add to my potting mix. But, it has also come to my attention that plants have specific nutritional requirements for better growth and designer plant food can be pricey. Remember, my goal is to keep the cost of growing an indoor garden as close to being free as possible.

Lucky for me I have a discarded old blender and lucky for me I drink lots of coffee and eat lots of eggs. I'm also really good at prowling the Internet for free samples, so I have a regular supply of organic coffee in small quantities. Any coffee is OK to use, but organic is better if you can get it. Drink the coffee and save the grounds. Likewise, eat the eggs and save the shells. I keep that mess frozen until I have a one-quart container full. Then I put it in the blender and make a frappe which is quite luscious to tomatoes and many other plants.

Mixing this goo into my regular potting mix of dollar store dirt (because its cheap and easy to get within walking distance of most urban Americans) and peat moss, perlite and a bit of worm poo makes a growing medium that's ideal for plant growth. It's very important to have extremely nutrient-rich soil for container gardens because plants deplete the nutrients quickly. It's also important to keep the medium fluffy and help it retain water better and perlite and peat moss help with that. The worm poo works wonders in providing basic nutrients as well as trace minerals. The reason for adding the coffee and eggshell frappe is to supplement calcium which is essential for tomato growth as well as increasing the acidity of the soil thanks to the coffee. You can add this goo to the soil of any calcium-loving plant that grows best in acidic soil. You can also add it to plants already potted to improve the soil.

When transplanting the seedling, I buried its intentionally leggy stem deeply in the pot and and covered it up with the potting mixture, leaving a few leaves protruding from the dirt. In general, tomatoes like being transplanted and their stems can be buried to sprout a better root system.

It seems happy and healthy immediately after transplanting. And, though taking awhile to sprout roots along the buried stem, it has started growing like crazy! I've had less than perfect results with tomatoes, but I am more optimistic than ever after putting more thought into the composition of the soil.

I made a tripod trellis from sticks found in my naturalized yard to wind this vine around to keep it compact and less unruly. Go little tomato plant, go! I'm glad you liked your free lunch from common kitchen scraps!

Bathroom Farmer?

Welcome to my new blog, Bathroom Farmer. I know I have some explaining to do. My name is Laura Fisher and I am a textile artist and clothing designer making fashions friendly to humanity and the planet. You may already know me from my Baisebeige Studios blog or from a variety of social networks I use. Those of you who know me in my flesh and bones life are aware that I truly do walk my green talk. I believe sustainability is the right of every person. I decided to raise the bar a little in my own life and try gardening. In. My. Bathroom.

My lifestyle is a little bohemian which is the way I like it. I share a house in a historic neighborhood with other people. I live here free in exchange for light housework. I experimented with creating a personal economy with no money for five years in order to understand the true meaning of wealth while I learned about the shifts occurring in social classes and the changing trends in the way we communicate. I started building social networks in June and in September opened an Etsy shop. During the experience of making "green" friends on the web, I have become more aware of foods. By making better choices in foods since June, my overall health has improved remarkably.

I toyed with the idea of planting a garden last winter and aborted the plan. I wanted to make a container garden on the veranda, but the property owner nixed that idea. He did offer me space in the one-acre naturalized yard which I nixed because I had been learning about container gardening and this was a big deviation. Plus, the yard is naturalized and I don't think the wildlife who have habitats there will distinguish my plants from their food source.

Yesterday, I saw the most astounding image. Have you ever clicked on a link in a tweet and seen THE THING  that solves your biggest problem?  This is a LIVING WALL at a company called Pigment. It was posted by my Twitter friend, @dejakester, who shares wonderful images and news about art. To me this was a miracle! I had thought about growing a container garden in my bathroom but dismissed that for lack of horizontal space to place pots. However, now, I can think of arranging a garden in three dimensional space and make good use of a wall.

Later the same evening, one of my vegan blogger friends, @snarkyvegan, turned me onto the idea of gardening vegetables and herbs year-round. Perfect!

This is going to be a lot of work and I am determined to plant my garden in the spring. The time frame is reasonable considering my room and bathroom will be undergoing extensive renovation because of water damages during a fire in the house. This wall will become a vertical garden.

Starting now, I am beginning to chronicle my experience in this blog in order to share information many of you may be able to apply in your own lives. I believe that when you become the authority in determining how you meet your most basic economic needs, you become powerful!