A good friend of mine has been bugging me for a while to try getting some plants at home. Historically I’ve had what most people would call a “brown thumb“. However, my friend convinced me to give it a shot. So today I’m starting a new series of posts chronicling my adventures in urban gardening. I’ve got a standard San Francisco apartment, however I do have a small patio so most of my plants will be able to enjoy the great outdoors (or at least I-280).
Today started with an impromptu trip to Home Depot. I didn’t really have a plan, nor did I do any research (Which always ends well!). Here’s what I ended up with:
- 24″ window box
- Miracle-Gro potting mix
- 2 * 4 in Strawberry plants
- 1 * 4 in Chocolate Mint
- 1 * 4 in Garlic Chive
The plants all came in self-contained biodegradable pots, so once the plastic was off, they went right into the soil. The 8 qt of potting mix was just the right amount for the 24″ window box, with the plants included. While it would be cheaper to buy several cubic feet, apartment means I have absolutely no where to put cubic feet of soil. These are the trade offs one has to make for urban gardening. A little water, and hopefully off we go!
Now, this is just the first in hopefully a long series of urban gardening. Next time I’ll make sure to do some actual research before buying living things. I’d like to get add more tasty fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes (and more strawberries), plus bamboo.
My “big goal” for the urban gardening project is to build a “Robotic Urban Farm System“. Mixing planting, hydroponics, arduino & technology = awesome combo. I have no idea how well it would work in my environment or even what it costs to build, but it seems like an awesome project.
