As we try to live more sustainably, people want to lower their environmental footprint by buying locally or growing their own food. People are choosing to buy from farmer’s markets and doing their best to choose products produced in their own countries.
Depending on where they live, people are also trying to grow their own food in their backyards or balconies. At the height of the pandemic, when there was a shortage in the food supply, many people started growing vegetables to sustain themselves and their families.
Growing your own garden does have its disadvantages. If you live somewhere where you get a winter, the growing season is very short. As a result, you will only have one yield per season, and that’s only if your plants are being grown in the right conditions. Buying locally stimulates the local economy and supports our farmers, but it can be more expensive than exported goods. Local farmers are likely to produce in smaller quantities, pay their employees better wages, and have higher production costs. All of this is reflected in the prices you will see when you buy them.
But there may be a sustainable and affordable solution for growing your food at home. Tower Garden has developed a vertical, aeroponic growing system which allows you to grow up to 20 vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers in less than three square feet. With the Tower, you can grow what you want, where you have space (you only need 3 square feet), indoors or outdoors, all year round. Don’t let your hard work go to waste; we recommend using fruit cages to protect your crops from pests.
The Tower uses aeroponics, the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment rather than soil. The company found that using this type of technology increases produce yield by an average of 30%, grows plants up to three times faster and because it circulates the water used, it only uses as little as 2% of the water you would use for a traditional garden. Because of its vertical design, it requires only 10% of the space traditional farming uses. Lastly, because the Tower Garden is a soilless growing system, there is no concern about contaminated dirt and no need for pesticides or herbicides. Aside from a few maintenance tasks, such as checking water levels and cleaning the pump filter, the Tower will take care of the rest.
The company is promoting their product towards school gardens to help educate students about growing their own food. They provide classrooms with lesson plans and learning materials to teach students about science, math, literacy and healthy eating. Moreover, the Towers can be grown in the classroom all year long.
Supporting local farmers is the best way to get local, quality produce. But if you want to give growing your own a try and you don’t have a lot of space, ideal growing conditions, or even a lot of money, the Tower Garden might be an option for you to try.