Window Farms

I think I have a critical nature and I like to question, poke, dig, unsettle. Too often my questioning leads me to negative results. Our world is corrupt. Cities are dirty. Farmlands are polluted. People are isolated. Animals are proclaimed extinct each day. Trees don't grow fast enough. Our children gain weight in alarming pace and we don't know whether we should feed them somethings else (like vegetables hidden in zucchini cake), or make them eat (choose) something else, or just leave them alone in fear we will cause eating disorders in ten or twenty years when these kids grow up. We gave up on the government. We don't even vote anymore. We hate our health care system and we have legitimate reasons for doing so. I can go on like this for a while, but I won't.

Why? Because once in a while I come accros something different. And then I am impressed. I am impressed when I see that people are doing something outside the box. I repeat: there are people who are doing (not only thinking about) something outside the box. Window Farms is an example. People grow gardens not only on a window sill, not only on the balcony, or rooftop. They grow vertical gardens in their windows. Think of a net of Christmas lights people hang in their windows. Now imagine having pots with edible plants in that net. You get the picture.

It started in New York with Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray and some plastic bottles and a group of friends who each added something to the contraption to make it more efficient. These people decided not to wait for new urban planning that would plan for larger backyards, community gardens etc. but they decided to do something with the resources and the little space that they had. These gardens are supposedly easy to make by non-experts. The plants grow in non-soil medium and are fed liquid nutrients. But most of all these people created a system for people to adapt and use and there is a support system, a network where people can connect and discuss and inform one another. The idea spread not only throughout New York, but outside the States, too. People in Europe are planting their vertical gardens in apartments, offices and other spaces in the heart of the city. I would call this a global community initiative. Urban vertical farming. Isn't that cool?

Take a look. Only 3.43 minutes.



When I see something like this I stop complaining. I am truly impressed. I am impressed by people's imagination, brilliant ideas, motivation and perseverance. And when I'm impressed my spirits lift.

I went shopping the other day and I passed by a rack with seeds and when I realized what I passed I reversed. I didn't know I could spend 30 minutes by a seed rack. There were too many to choose from.

I am not going to build a window farm this spring, but I will have a garden. On my windowsill (because I have one) and my balcony. Kasia's Little Garden will feature this coming season: Little Marvel Peas, Sparkler White Tip Radish and Buttercrunch Lettuce. Don't you just love these names?