Dr John’s Mini Gardens - The 100 Foot Diet?
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04.12.07
Can’t afford one of those nifty ‘futurama’ vertical urban farms that Lloyd was waxing lyrical about the other day? No worries, we do have a cheaper option for you and equally well suited to a metropolitan life. Not only is Dr John Vella an Australia professor in Agricultural Science & Research, but it appears he is a dab hand at entrepreneurship as well. His Home Mini Gardens are sold as one way of growing your food as local as possible—in your own back yard, or on your balcony. Buy the stacking trays (starting at $40 AUD for three), add the mineral mix and seedlings, and water from the top. Presto! Almost instant veggie patch. The trays have a special drip feed that allows water to pass through to plants in lower lower trays, so is mostly self-watering. Not a new idea, but it does seem well executed here. We also read that his uniquely grown seedlings, are “produced as organically as possible ...” On offer are lettuces, herbs and tomatoes, as well as capsicum, broccoli, spinach, leek and more. Plus the soft bodied pest oil recommended is certified organic. :: Dr John’s Mini Gardens.
Neat. Not exactly cheap. Anyone try and make something similar with plain terra cotta pots?
i have a similar system sitting in my window. its called the EzGro (theezgro.com). i use their economy kit, it was $40, and i built a small wooden structure to support it in, and i also suspended some mylar around the back of the plants to reflect the sun (and i rotate the ezgro 1/4 everyday to even out sunlight). all fruiting plants grow well in the spring, summer, and fall.... especially tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, etc. in the winter i have to switch to leafy greens (lettuce, peas, swiss chard, etc), and they grow insanely slow because of lack of light. i could add supplemental light but that seems like a waste of energy. while hydro is great because the plants grow like twice as fast, its also much more expensive than soil, and you have to rely on synthetic petroleum-derived fetilizers... unless you have the time / patience / space for organic hydro.
Just Hugged this one - I too am interested in a DIY option. Although the EzGrow sounds interesting, the link is dead.
If you have a veggie oil car or know someone who does, chances are you have access to large quantities of 5 gallon oil containers, you can poke drain holes in the cap, put them upside down, cut out the bottom, fill with gravel at the bottom (for drainage) and soil on top. Stack in pyramid formation with structural support when needed. Just thought of this now, looking forward to trying. Best of luck...
I started my dad with one for fathers day after the police took his licence off him for doozing off at the traffic lights. He now has 3. In spring & summer he never buys a lettuce or herb for himself or mum, in fact he is always giving us some when we visit. He reckons that he is greener than all kids, growing his own and not driving to the shops to buy tastless veggies and he saves money. They love their vertical mini gardens.
The plastic bucket sounds interesting. I am thinking of kitty litter containers. My father-in-law has 3 cats and goes thru a lot of them. I use them for all sorts of things and this sounds like 1 more to try.
Jeff