Growing Organic Food Inside Your Home Year-Round

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Tip: Growing

Organic Food Inside Your Home Year-Round

_http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10529.cfm_

 

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10529.cfm)

 

 

* Windowsill Gardening

By Pauline Lloyd

Growing Green International 9, 2/22/2008

_Straight to the Source _

(http://www.veganorganic.net/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=43 & Itemid=65)

 

_http://www.veganorganic.net/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=43 & Item

id=65_

(http://www.veganorganic.net/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=43 & Itemid=65)

 

 

Don't worry if you haven't got a garden or allotment!

For a surprising

amount of food can be produced indoors, vegan

organically, either on your

windowsill or on a well-lit kitchen surface.

 

The following plants will all do well indoors:

 

Salad greens are easy to grow and can be produced all

the year round

indoors, ever so cheaply. So, the next time you buy

fruit and vegetables, save any

empty plastic punnets as these are ideal for this

purpose. You will need to

line the base of the punnet with several layers of paper

kitchen towel and this

should be dampened with water before sprinkling on the

seeds. Try using

rape, mustard or cress seeds which should all grow well.

 

After sowing the seeds, place the punnet in a brown

paper bag and keep it in

a dark cupboard, perhaps underneath the sink, until the

seeds have

germinated and the seedlings are an inch or so high.

Then it can be brought out into

the daylight and the bag removed. But don't place it on

a very sunny

windowsill, or the seedlings will dry out too rapidly

and become stressed.

 

You should check the seedlings regularly to make sure

that the paper is

still damp and water or spray if necessary. When they

are about 2-3 inches high,

the seedlings can be cut off with scissors, rinsed and

used as a tasty

garnish for salads or sandwiches. Alternatively,

buckwheat and sunflower greens

make an excellent substitute for lettuce. These grow

well in small plastic trays

and the sorts of trays that can sometimes buy mushrooms

in are ideal.

 

Soak the seeds (which should still have their shells on)

in a jam jar for 12

hours, then drain off the water and leave the seeds to

sprout for a day

before sowing. To sow: Place a layer of soil (or potting

compost) in the plastic

tray and distribute the seeds evenly on the surface,

covering them with a

thin layer of soil. Dampen the soil daily. The greens

should be ready for

harvesting in about 7 days and are also easily harvested

with scissors.

 

Wheatgrass also grows well in trays and can be grown

either on soil or on

dampened kitchen towels. However, wheatgrass is usually

juiced in a special

juicer, rather than eaten, although you can also chew it

like gum! Wheatgrass

juice has many amazing curative properties and it is

full of vitamins, minerals

and enzymes and of course chlorophyll. I would recommend

that you read Ann

Wigmore's book, The Wheatgrass Book, if you want to find

out more about how to

grow it and about its medicinal properties.

 

Sprouts

 

Many grains, pulses, nuts and seeds can be sprouted and

are easily grown

indoors on a windowsill, either in trays or in special

sprouting jars. And

sprouts are truly amazing! They are full of vitamins,

enzymes and minerals and

have many features, which make them far superior to

other foods For example they

are inexpensive to grow, need little preparation, can

usually be eaten raw

and some even have anti-cancer properties. And what

could be fresher, than a

handful of sprouts removed from a jar in your kitchen,

rinsed, then eaten

straight away?

 

If you want quick results, then try sprouting some

soaked, hulled, organic

sunflower seeds. These can be ready in a day or two and

green lentil sprouts

also grow very quickly. Alfalfa is one of the most

nutritious sprouts to grow

and makes an excellent garnish, but I actually prefer

the taste of red

clover, which is supposed to be especially good if you

are menopausal. I also

really like the taste of broccoli sprouts, but these

seeds are very expensive to

buy and not always easy to find and so I usually grow my

own.

 

If you would like to try this, then leave some purple

sprouting broccoli to

go seed in a corner of your garden. You need to leave at

least two plants

next to one another to be sure of producing seed and you

may need to protect the

ripening seedpods from birds. When the pods are dry

shell out the seeds.

It's fiddly, but well worth the effort, as you will save

a fortune! Legumes are

also worth sprouting. Try chick peas, peas and aduki

beans. Wheat can also be

sprouted and is used to make the refreshing drink known

as Rejuvelac, which

is supposed to be good for the intestinal flora. And of

course wheat sprouts

are also used to make sprouted wheat bread.

 

When growing sprouts, if you are short of space, then

try one of the tiered

tray systems such as the Beingfare Salad Sprouter, which

allows you to grow

several varieties of sprouts on top of one another. It

is also possible to buy

special sprouting jars with mesh lids, which allow easy

rinsing and draining

of your sprouts. Of course if you are hard up for cash

you can simply use

clean jam jars, covered with a piece of cheesecloth

(muslin) and held in place

with an elastic band. It is possible to buy nylon

sprouting bags from the

Fresh Network, which are more portable than most sprouting

systems and are

useful for taking on holiday.

 

Herbs and Other Plants

 

Many herbs will grow well on a windowsill and are useful

for adding extra

flavour to food. Parsley is rich in vitamins and will

grow well in a pot or

small trough indoors. I use the variety Champion Moss

Curled and make sowings in

March and August for an all year round supply.

Germination seems to be more

reliable than from an outdoor sowing and it is

especially useful to have a

small pot of parsley growing indoors in the winter as it

saves going out in the

garden and getting the feet wet!

 

Bush Basil also grows well in containers and so does

Winter Savoury and both

of these can be sown indoors in April or May. Chives is

also an excellent

indoor container plant and so is Pennyroyal and you

could even try growing your

own Cayenne peppers on a sunny windowsill! Also

watercress does not

necessarily need running water. The Organic Gardening

Catalogue offers a type of

watercress that does well in a well-watered pot and if

you grow it indoors, you

should hopefully escape the caterpillars which can

quickly strip the plant

bare!

 

--------------------

 

My indoor garden started with a Royal Flush: During a

poker game with

friends, I was halving an avocado for guacamole when I

realized, to my complete

shock, that I had a good hand. Instead of pausing the

game to throw the pit in

the trash, I poked a hole in the soil of the nearest

houseplant, dropped in

the pit and forgot about it. I was reminded a month

later when the fast-growing

avocado plant took over the pot. You, too, can grow an

indoor garden with

kitchen scraps usually thrown onto the compost heap.

 

Garlic: 1. Plant a few garlic cloves with pointed tip

facing up in a pot

with loamy organic soil.

 

2. Place the pot on a sunny windowsill and water

regularly like a houseplant.

 

3. Green garlicky shoots emerge in a week or so. Harvest

with a scissors to

using in cooking or as a tasty garnish for soups, salads

and baked potatoes.

 

Green Onions: 1. Use green onions with healthy, white

roots attached to the

bulb. Snip off green tops for cooking with a scissors.

Leave a little green

top on the onion bulb.

 

2. Plant the entire onion while leaving the short top

above ground in a

small pot filled with a loamy, organic potting soil.

Make sure your container has

drainage holes. Put in a sunny windowsill and water once

a week or when soil

feels dry to the touch.

 

3. Harvest new green shoots with scissors to use for

cooking or as a tasty

garnish. Continue to leave the onion in the soil. With

each new growth the

onion will taste more potent. After each harvest of onion

tops, dress the

topsoil with organic compost. Enjoy green onion tops in

stir-fries, omelets, and in

sandwiches all winter long

 

Pineapple: 1. Indoor pineapple plants rarely produce

flowers and fruit, but

their striking foliage adds a touch of exotic to any

houseplant collection.

All you need to grow one is the green top you cut off

when you eat the

pineapple. For best results, use a pineapple that has

fresh center leaves at the

crown. Lob off the top, right where the crown meets the

fruit. Peel off the

bottom leaves and clean off the leftover fruit. Let the

top rest a day before

planting.

 

2. Fill a shallow pot with rich, loamy organic soil

mixed with a few

tablespoons of well-rinsed coffee grounds. Pineapple

grows best in an acidic soil.

Plant the pineapple top so the soil is even with the

bottom of the crown.

 

3. Water well and mist the leaves and crown with a

diluted, organic liquid

fertilizer. As a member of the Bromeliaceae family,

which also includes air

plants, pineapple plants take much of their nourishment

not from the soil but

from nutrients in the moist air.

 

Avocado: 1. For best results use only a ripe avocado.

Carefully halve the

fruit and rinse the pit. Pat dry and let sit overnight in

a warm, dry spot. The

next day, peel off any of the parchment-like skin from

the pit.

 

2. Place the pit with the base (the wider end) toward the

bottom in a 7-inch

pot full of loamy, rich organic soil. Make sure the tip

is above the soil,

exposed to light for proper germination. Water

thoroughly.

 

3. If your apartment is dry, place a clear plastic cup

over the exposed seed

tip to serve as a mini-greenhouse. Though the plant does

not need direct

light to germinate, placing the pot on a sunny

windowsill will speed growth.

 

4. Continue to water every week and make sure the soil

doesn't dry out

completely. The pit may take over a month to germinate

so be patient.

 

5. When the sprout emerges and grows to about 4 inches,

add another layer of

organic soil to cover the pit completely. This not only

protects the seed,

but also any roots that may poke through the soil in

search of nourishment.

 

6. Once the plant starts growing, it may remind you of

the story " Jack and

the Beanstalk. " You can watch the plant grow tall

for a year (supported with a

wooden rod) and let it branch on its own, or make a

decision to prune it and

force it to branch, making a sturdier plant. If you

choose to prune, it's

best to trim with a diagonal cut 2 inches from the top.

Be careful as you prune

not to cut the main stem more than 1/3 of its height.

 

7. Continue to add organic compost to fertilize the soil

with each pruning

and water as you would a houseplant. Only repot the

fast-growing plant when it

is 6 times taller than the diameter of the pot.

 

8. Though avocado plants do not bear fruit if grown

indoors, you can plant

multiple avocado pits at various times in the same pot

for a more interesting

arrangement.

 

 

 

 

Further Reading:

 

The Sprouter's Handbook by Edward Cairney (Argyll

Publishing, 1997).

 

Sprout For the Love of Everybody by Viktoras Kulvinskas.

 

The Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Steve

Meyerowitz.

 

The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore.

 

Sprouting by Pauline Lloyd. (A copy of this article can

be downloaded from

my web site at:

_http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/sprout.htm_

(http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/sprout.htm)

).

 

 

Seed Suppliers:

 

The Organic Gardening Catalogue, Riverdene Business

Park, Molesey Rd,

Hersham, Surrey. KT12 4RG. (Tel: 01932 253666.) Sells a

good selection of seeds for

sprouting and also stocks the Beingfare Salad Sprouter,

sprouting jars, a

manual wheatgrass juicer and books.

 

John Chambers, 15 Westleigh Rd, Barton Seagrave, Kettering,

Northants, NN15

5AJ. (Tel: 01933 652562.) Offers a selection of seeds

for sprouting.

 

The FRESH Network, PO Box 71, Ely. Cambs. CB7 4GU. (Tel:

0870 800 7070).

Sells sprouting jars and nylon sprouting bags, plus a

number of books on

sprouting.

 

Suffolk Herbs, Monks Farm, Coggeshall Road, Kelvedon,

Essex CO5 9PG. (Tel:

01376 572456.) Sells seeds for sprouting, sprouting

equipment and books on

herbs.

 

Note: all of the seeds mentioned in this article can be

obtained from The

Organic Gardening Catalogue.

 

 

 

Editors notes on indoor cultivation:

 

You may find it difficult to locate a growing medium for

your window box

that is genuinely vegan organic; nearly all organic

growing mixtures contain

animal products such as poultry manure or bone meal.

There are various

possibilities; you can make do with an ordinary non

organic product, you can use DANU

growing medium from the Organic Gardening Catalogue (not

cheap) in which case

add about one eighth part of seaweed meal for added

nitrogen. Or you can

make your own from compost or leafmould; Vegan Organic

Information Sheet number

1 gives details, see below. Soil on its own is fine in a

thin layer but

becomes too compacted in pots and boxes

 

One other point is that tiny fruit flies/mushroom flies

may take up

residence in your moist indoor growing medium. They are

very hard to shift and the

larvae may eat plant roots. The only practical answer if

this happens is to

change the growing medium as often as possible, rinsing

out the container before

re filling with fresh clean material. Dont store compost

mixes for too

long.

 

 

“Fortunately

art is a community effort - a small but select community living in a

spiritualized world endeavoring to interpret the wars and the solitudes of the

flesh.”

 

-Allen Ginsberg

 

 

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