It’s a bright, sunshiny (though chilly) day in Lakeview. We sent warm thoughts to our region’s farmers during last night’s freeze warning and hope all the crops toughed it out. Warmer weather’s coming soon.
The above photo is the view we are blessed with, and I love to share. It sets up the lovely story below about growing food in an apartment, written by a neighbor who has the same southern exposure. I hope you enjoy and, if you are a home gardener (outdoor or in) that you’ll share your adventures with our community (send me a note at bob@localfoodforum.com).
In This Issue
• Apartment Growing Ingredients: Sunshine, Water, Ample Curiosity
• Take a Quiz
Apartment Growing Ingredients: Sunshine, Water, Ample Curiosity
Our high-rise apartment in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood has a southern and western exposure with big windows. This affords amazing views like the one above. But when the sun is blazing in, it can get really toasty.
This was driven home in the March of 2012, our first after we moved in the summer before, when a freak heat wave drove temperatures well into the 80s — a couple of months before the central air conditioning would be turned on for the season. I remember saying to Barb, “This is like a greenhouse. We could grow tomatoes in here.”
We learned only recently how true this is.
While Barb’s bountiful houseplants have thrived, it wasn’t until we met neighbor Jill Tessler, a veterinarian who became one of Barb’s cat-sitting associates, that we found that out. Jill has succeeded at growing prolific herbs, peas, ginger and, yes, tomatoes indoors.
Enjoy her charming story about McGyvering her way to apartment growing success — and if you are a fellow cliff dweller, we hope it provides some inspiration.
— Bob
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Before I moved to Chicago, I lived in San Diego, well known for its fair weather. It was there that I took up hobby gardening, which was easy to do given the conditions. My gardening forays started small, and even when I lived in a cottage with a yard and convinced my landlord to let me put in four raised beds for my endeavors, I still considered it “dabbling.”
I always saw a few dollars spent on seeds or young plants to be more an investment in “life experiments” than in a future bountiful harvest, but bountiful harvests did happen as a bonus. Because my attitude has been “let’s just see what happens,” gardening has always been a pleasure, even in the face of setbacks.
I am often so goal- and productivity-oriented in other areas of my life, that this was an area where I could let that go.
Sometimes I would research a particular plant’s care (there are wonderful benefits to the accessibility of information on the internet and the accumulated knowledge of those who have tried before you), but sometimes I would just wing it or purposefully let a plant go to seed just to watch the process. This is how I learned that artichokes make great big, purple, thistle-like flowers when allowed to mature!
This building was my first experience in high-rise living. I didn’t plan on residing in a high-rise, but I wasn’t opposed to it, and it fit my needs when I moved here in 2013. I face south, and one of the key benefits is all of the sunshine.
All plants really need to grow is sunshine, water and a place to put their roots. Each spring stirred in me the need to grow things despite being more than 350 feet up in an apartment with no balcony.
I started small with seeds for herbs. Having no particular need for fancy pots, I grew them in large to-go containers for soup. I used a pointed knife to make a few drainage holes in the bottoms, and used each corresponding lid as an overflow catch dish.
When the herbs were successful, I started wondering what else I could grow with my southern exposure. Since tomatoes were always a highlight of my San Diego gardens, I decided to try them.
At the time of my first tomato attempt, it was late in the season, so I decided to buy a plant that was already started. I knew I would want a pot big enough for a tomato cage, and also cherry tomatoes so the weight of the fruit wouldn’t cause balance issues with branches or the whole pot.
I inquired with the employee at Home Depot to see if they had any dwarf varieties since I also knew the eventual height might also be an issue. She clearly thought I was nuts when I explained I meant to grow them indoors, but I was not deterred because “let’s just see what happens!”
Sometimes there are unexpected considerations for particular plants. Tomatoes do not readily self-pollinate, and as I have no bees in my apartment, I needed to take on the task of pollinating the flowers myself.
I found a small, long-haired paintbrush helped pick up pollen from the narrow flower center to transfer to other flowers. A happy, bee-like attitude (and making buzzing sound effects while I played the role of pollinator) didn’t hurt either!
Sometimes there are unexpected boons. There are no squirrels in here to steal my tomatoes, and the controlled apartment temperatures have allowed me to continue harvesting small amounts of fruit from a mature plant until as late as January!
Since quarantine, my endeavors have escalated both because I am spending more time in my apartment in general, and because I recognize that I find gardening soothing in stressful times. Pouring care and attentiveness into plants is incredibly soothing and rewarding.
The first little seedlings that poke through the soil are always such a joy to watch. They are little champions of growth, and once they have their seedling leaves (cotyledons for any biology nerds out there) up through the soil, they gain grossly visible changes every day. I have never been a morning person, but having baby plants lends quiet thrills to my mornings to which I always look forward. As I do my rounds of watering, I inspect for new features: sudden leaps in height, new leaves, new tendrils, first flowers, first fruits.
I have now experimented successfully with indoor tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, peas, beans and ginger, along with numerous herbs (basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, dill, chives, and oregano). I also currently have baby lettuces, Brussels sprouts, chamomile and romanesco as new experiments.
Some of these were unplanned acquisitions from a friend who had surplus seedlings (having gardening friends often lends extra levels of excitement and unexpected twists to my own gardening). Some of my containers are bought, some are hodgepodge improvisations (one is a plastic bucket thoroughly cleaned out of Cascade dishwasher detergent).
Although I might prefer other decor choices in other circumstances, the greenery of the plants is so lovely, I no longer notice my strange collection of “pots.” And although I do enjoy getting tomatoes or peas or fresh basil from my plants, the real joy is growth.
Take a Quiz
A 2010 book by Dr. Dickson Despommier, a Columbia University professor, excited interest in the futuristic concept of farms in towering buildings producing vegetables and fruit to feed residents of cities and towns. What was the title of the book?
a) The Indoor Eden
b) The Vertical Farm
c) Inside Agriculture
d) Strawberry Yields Forever
Answer: b) The Vertical Farm. While the idea of multi-story farms remains theoretical more than a decade later, low-rise vertical farms with growing racks or raised beds have become a significant factor in the U.S. food supply chain. Techniques range from enclosed facilities that use only grow lights to expansive greenhouses and glass houses that use natural light, to simple hoop houses and high tunnels.