Posts Tagged ‘indoor gardening’
Urban Homesteading with Plants Part IV – Gardening at Work
Gardening at work may sound like an unusual occurrence but more employers are allowing fresh food to be grown at their business. Some businesses are allowing gardens to be created on rooftops while others are planting gardens on the ground between the sidewalk and the road. Those who have no space to garden are finding ways of growing fresh food in their cubicles, on walls, and even their business’s kitchen.
Rooftop Gardens
Rooftop gardens are popping up in many cities. Some of these have completely redone the roof surface to incorporate plant material in beds and traditional garden spaces. This requires making the roof stronger to hold drainage material, soil-free growing medium and an irrigation system. Using planters, such as whiskey barrels to grow your food, can create a simpler rooftop garden.
Keep in mind though; this type garden requires monitoring the soil moisture daily since it is so close to the sun. Also, get permission to garden on the roof before starting and limit the number and size of planters. A large planter filled with soil and plants can weight a considerable amount and can cause roof damage if too heavy.
Since this type of garden is exposed to stronger solar radiation, make sure to plant vegetables that are sun loving. Those who require shade can still be planted but use greenhouse shade cloth or plant under taller plants. Both of these techniques will create the shade needed for shade loving plants.
Get Rid of the Winter Blues with a Little Touch of Spring
Bringing spring indoors in the middle of winter is not a difficult task. Some may do this by making a trip to the local florist or grocery store but this really is not necessary. All that is needed is to merely look out the window.
Plants in a typical landscape can be an inexpensive answer to the wintertime blues. Crabapple, flowering cherry, flowering almond, flowering pear, flowering quince, redbud, pussy willow, forsythia, and red maple are just a few of the trees and/or shrubs that are useful in this in devour or what is commonly known as forcing.
The Process of Forcing
Forcing begins by studying the plant material in ones own backyard. Choose plants that have branches that need to be pruned. This strategy will reduce the task of pruning later and will provide ample material to force. It is always better to cut more in length than is needed.
The process of cutting the branch is easy. Simply pick the branch, cut the length desired, and remove the branch at an angle using hand pruners. Once all material has been cut, bring indoors and recut all the stems under water. Cutting the stems under water will prevent air bubbles from forming and blocking the movement of water up the stem.
