Let’s start growing

In this article, I will cover one of my favorite growing containers that can be used in recirculating water methods to grow food. These containers are self-watering and self-fertilizing. They are made by recycling milk bottle containers which otherwise would pollute our oceans or landfills. You use less than 95% of the water that you would use in traditional gardening and you can grow a large amount of nutritious food such as leafy greens, vegetables, herbs, and small fruits in a very small amount of space.

The Farmstand with Glow Rings

These food containers are vertical and are completely self-contained, offering you to choose the size and amount of growing spots, from 12 to 36. They can be placed out in the garden or located indoors utilizing the specially designed led lights known as “Glow Rings”. Your basic requirements are a level sunny spot outdoors of at least 2 ft by 2 ft (actually a 3 ft by 3ft spot would be ideal to allow for space for plants to grow and air circulation). If you only have space indoors, you will need supplemental lighting. The Lettuce Grow team has designed led lights for their Farmstands known as “Glow Rings”. They really work wonders and are essential to ensure an abundance of harvest when growing indoors or in light restricted places. You will also need electrical power and water access. The electric pumps and the Led Glow Lights use very low wattage so you should be able to incorporate alternative clean energy sources such as Solar or Windpower.

The initial Farmstand(s) arrives with all the components that you will need to start growing (except seedling – Lettuce Grow also sells seedlings should you need them). The assembly is very easy being a “plug and play” type of system (I had my seven-year-old Granddaughter help me during the assembly. She really enjoyed snapping the grow containers in pace). Instructions are included in the shipping materials and there are numerous videos on Social media as well as the Lettuce Grow website to assist you along the way. There are also Facebook and Instagram groups that offer helpful tips.

The Farmstand vertical towers that are located outdoors may need to be rotated on occasions so as to ensure sufficient light for all plants. You can grow a variety of leafy greens, vegetables, herbs, and small fruits. The Lettuce Grow website is very helpful in helping you estimate what you should be able to grow and their seedlings store offers a variety of seedlings to help you jump start your food growing (they even try to customize it somewhat by your zip code location and whether you are growing indoors or outdoors).

I wanted to be able to report on the different sizes of the Farmstand and the growing experience. I chose three different sizes of Farmstands, a 24, a 30, and a 36 plant holder. I ordered 4 Glow Rings and ordered a large selection of seedlings to supplement those that I had started myself. The seedlings from Lettuce Grow arrived in well-protected containers and were very healthy. I had ordered a selection of seedlings (Garlic Chives, Sage, Mint, Thyme, Radicchio, Baby Lettuce Mix, Viola, Italian Parsley, Red Leaf Lettuce, Spinach, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Fennel, Red Mizuna, Oregano, Sugar Sprint Pea, Watercress, Green Bunching Onion, Cilantro, Dill and Ironman Kale Mix) and am very impressed at the growth rates – see photos below.

Setting up and maintaining the Farmstand: Set up and assembly is very easy. Once assembled, add the water as instructed (approximately 20 gallons), and plug in the submersible water pump utilizing the provided timer. There are a number of options as to how long the pump runs and rests depending upon the Farmstand location and the weather. Adding the initial fertilizers and checking pH are also explained in both the instructions included in the initial shipping and the website page “How It Works” . Once you register your Farmstand, Lettuce Grow will also send you period reminders as to when to add additional fertilizers. All you need to do is watch the plants grow and enjoy the delicious harvests. It has been just over 4 weeks since I planted the seedlings and we have already harvested leafy greens for a few salads as well as herbs to add to our cooking and sauces.

As the season warms up, I am looking forward to seeing how vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, and zucchini will grow. I will research into designing some trellis support for these vegetables and will share my experience.

Additional items for your Farmstand:

You can order additional grow containers (maximum 36 plant sites), Glow Rings, and a lot of other supplies from the Lettuce Grow store I ordered dollies for my 3 Farmstands as well as water heaters (help to keep water temperature to 70 F for optimal plant growing). You may also want to add an air stone, especially during the summer months to increase the oxygen available to the plants. Once you start to grow and gain experience, you can experiment with what else you can grow and do’s & don’ts so as to maximize your food harvest.

Learning & Teaching Options:

The Farmstand from Lettuce Grow is definitely one of the food growing systems that I will be utilizing in any learning and teaching assignments of Feed Hunger Now. Depending upon the need and amount of local food required, the size of the Farmstand can be increased and additional units can also be added to meet the challenge of establishing sustainable local food gardens.

In future articles, I will cover other food growing systems that also assist in establishing sustainable local food gardens. Some of them may require a little more assembly and provide different challenges but will increase the range of food that can be sustainably grown in your own space.

Feed Hunger Now looking for a solution to end hunger

Feed Hunger Now is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is stepping up to the challenge.   Our vision is “A world without hunger”, and our Mission is to “Inspire the building of sustainable local food gardens”.

Feed Hunger Now will work with individuals, community and nonprofit organizations, schools and government agencies to inspire, engage, educate, and empower individuals to grow food sustainably by incorporating  recirculating farming methods including Aquaponics and Hydroponics to substantially increase locally grown food that is free of harmful chemical fertilizers or pesticides while using the lowest carbon footprint thereby help increase food security, reduce hunger and provide better access to nutritious, affordable, fresh, locally grown healthy food and domestic green job opportunities.

Will you join us in this journey?