Forget herbs by the window. You can grow more in your home. “All you need is ONE sunny place,” food designer Phil Mundee insists, “and the joy of growing your own things can be yours.”
It is fresh, easy on the wallet and the cultivation can be enormously fun: self-grown fruit and vegetables. Even though not all of us get to enjoy the perks of living in the countryside, that doesn’t mean that we have to give up harvesting food completely. There are things you can grow in a city apartment!
Together with partner and hobby gardener Rob Strauch, the 36-year old from Battersea turned his apartment into a mini garden. He jokes, "What looks like houseplants could grow a pair at any time.“
There is no feeling like harvesting your own fruit,” the vegan lifestyle expert says.
While growing your own fresh food in a tiny apartment won’t get you through winter, according to Phil and Rob it gives you much more, a new outlook and perspective.
“You learn to respect food. You form a bond with a living being, and start to appreciate how long it takes for nature to produce what most people see as necessity.” Here are five vegetables and fruits that you can easily grow at home.
Avocados
The super-healthy and delicious fruit you can easily be grown in any home. All you need is the core of an avocado. Remove it and put three to four toothpicks in the middle. Then you put the whole in a glass of water, the side with the toothpicks must point upwards. Rob suggests, “Place the glass best in a warm place, or on the windowsill, and don’t forget to water over again and over again.” After a few weeks a small tree should be able to grow, which you can plant in a pot. Soon you will be able to harvest your own avocado.”
Garlic
Just like an the avocado, garlic can be grown in any living situation. All you need is a small flower pot and a clove of garlic. Similarly, this also works with the head on spring onions.
Lemons
Growing lemons requires a light filled apartment. Phil knows, “While otherwise easy to grow and maintain, Citrus fruits need a lot of sun and tend to like high humidity.”
Carrots
While carrots can go grow inside, they need their space. “You can plant carrots in a flower box. But it should also be about 20 centimetres deep and wide, so that the whole thing works,” Rob says. “Also drainage holes are needed, so you should collect the water in a bowl under the box when you put it in the apartment.” Carrots need a lot of sun, but are otherwise easy to handle in care.
Green Beans
You can also grow green beans in the flower box. But just like carrots, green beans are size queens - the bigger, the better. Because the larger the container, the less often you have to water the plants. Otherwise, the beans are not as problematic as carrots. The only thing you have to keep in mind here is that the beans need around eight hours of sun each day.
What will you be growing in your four walls. Let us know in the comments?
