Greenhouses are great for growing your own food and flowers, but they take careful planning and a fair amount of time and money to build. Small indoor gardens are a simpler, lower cost option. These indoor gardens go by various names such as kitchen window garden, windowsill garden, garden window, greenhouse window, indoor herb garden, indoor planters, indoor grow space and grow bed. Use these keywords to search the Internet and you’ll find lots of affordable ways of adding plants in your home. Indoor garden possibilities range from growing a few herbs or sprouting wheatgrass on the windowsill, to modifying a bay window, to more elaborate grow spaces like the top photo above. Maybe I’ll revisit this topic in the future because the concept is so practical. Many times there is little or no cost if you use recycled plastic food containers, potting trays, compost and basic supplies you probably already have around the house. And the benefits of having some fresh produce are well worth the time and effort.
And in case you missed it, you can also grow plants in window wells.
Image source: Touch the Earth Ranch
Image source: Garden Windows (nice image gallery of possibilities)
Image source: According to Lia Blog
Image source: Crib Candy
The living wall is gorgeous! I’ve seen plant walls made from fabric for sale, but these would be MUCH cheaper, and they still look good. :-) I know I am going to want a very large growing space because I eat mostly vegetables, and I have arthritis so I want them raised so I don’t have to bend too much. The one in the top photo looks amazing – do you know how it was made? I found some cedar raised grow boxes on a gardening site that would probably look good inside, but they are a bit expensive. I guess they could be looked at as an investment on my grocery bill, especially if I took care of them! :-)
I like the aquaponics idea, too, though. I hadn’t really thought about that!
There are various ways of making planters like the top photo. I would use mortared recycled bricks or low fired brick (common in developing countries). Install plumbing and a drain so the plants are easy to take care of.
I actually just found your blog through the Renaissance Ronin site. I spent all night reading about earthbag homes and picked out a plan to talk my husband in to. It’s your Modern House plan on Dream Green Homes and I fell in love with it once I saw the grow bed. Would it also be possible to substitute aquaponics for a grow bed?
Sure. I usually show just the basics to keep costs low. Most people end up adding on extras like a greenhouse, more porches, etc.
I just love what can be done with these types of homes. I cannot wait until we build ours. There are just so many ideas and creative ways to do it.