With apologies for the length, here's what my recent reading has turned up. These methods, for the most part, were developed by Ann Wigmore who was looking for a way to provide organic nutrition to people who didn't live on farm land and weren't able to tend a large outdoor garden. I hope it is helpful.Indoor GardeningDISCLAIMER:For me, this is all theory (so far) based on reading. We DO have the worms in the compost bin going and our wheat berries sprouting, in preparation for our own experiment with indoor gardening. I will pass along what I have gleaned from reading and my resources. Just know that this is book learning at this point, not tempered with experience. So, PLEASE, add your own experiences to the thread.
What soil/medium do you use for planting?Topsoil is not recommended for indoor gardening as it is not porous enough for container growing. Because of this, topsoil alone will not hold enough moisture and will pack down too much. More than one of my sources recommended mixing peat moss. I found three different recipes for indoor gardening soil.
Mixture 1 (simple)Topsoil and compost to equal two barrels
Peat moss
Mixture 2Two barrels full of topsoil (this is the first 12 to 20 inches of dark soil located beneath grass on the lawn or under leafy ground cover)
One half bale of peat moss
Empty barrels for composting used mixtures (after harvesting plants)
Mixture 3One pail each:
Coarse vermiculite
Peat moss
Sifted compost
Topsoil
To this, add:
One cup lime
Two cups fertilizer
One half pail charcoals from a fireplace or the kind used for fish tanks ? not the kind used on a grill, they have chemicals.
How deep should my soil be?To determine soil depth, you?ll need to check and see what each seed company recommends. My best guess after reading is that if the seed is one that can be planted and covered with just ? inch of soil, you are probably safe with a one inch soil depth.
What sort of containers can I use?Shallow trays can be used for the 1 inch soil depth. You may want to recycle old cafeteria trays for this purpose. Others use foil trays that are easily found. Basically any container that you would otherwise discard could be incorporated.
If you are handy, you could build wooden boxes. Just be sure NOT to use chemically treated lumber and provide drain holes.
EASY TRICK FOR OUTDOOR PLANTING:For those who would prefer to plant outdoors, but really don?t want to invest the time, hard work and money it would take to create ideal soil conditions, I saw an old farmer?s trick today. Take the bag of topsoil and poke lots of tiny holes in one side. This is for drainage. On the other side of the bag, slice it open with a large ?X.? Insert your plant, shrub, etc., water and mulch. The plant doesn?t know the rest of your soil is all sand and/or clay. It grows just as well as the stuff in the landscaped neighbor?s yard.
The following is a very limited list. It is not inclusive.Plants requiring 1 inch soil depth (Not planting depth):Alfalfa
Barley
Fenugreek
Lentils
Radish Greens
Red clover
Wheatgrass
Pea shoots
Plants requiring 4 inch soil depth (Not planting depth):Assorted baby lettuces
Buckwheat lettuce
Sunflower greens
Plants requiring 6 inch soil depth (Not planting depth):Garlic
Onions
Sprouting seedsCAUTIONWhen indoor gardening, a very important caution is to not let your seeds simply sit and sprout in the dampness. If you do this, molds can form that are transferred into the plant. Some people think they are experiencing symptoms of detoxification after drinking wheat grass juice. In truth, they are having an allergic reaction to the mold. Instead, after the initial soaking, rinse your seeds with FILTERED WATER (tap has fluoride and chlorine) 3 or 4 times per day to prevent mold from growing.
My method for sprouting was derived from the book
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. I fill a quart jar ? to ? full of seeds and then I cover the seeds with FILTERED WATER to soak for 8 to 10 hours. Instead of covering the jar with cheesecloth, I found some sprouting screens (
http://downtoearthdistributors.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi) at my local health food store. These are wire mesh discs that fit a wide mouthed mason jar and allow you to screw the rim on. These are much easier to clean, in my opinion.
After the initial soaking, the seeds are drained, rinsed, and drained again and left standing upside down on a 45 degree tilt so that air can get to the seeds and they can continue to drain. Throughout the day, I will add water, swirl the seeds and drain again. Depending on the seed variety you are trying to sprout, sprouting should take anywhere from 2 to 4 days or so. Fallon has an entire section in her book on the subject.
12 to 18 hours ? Sunflower seeds with the sprout barely showing
2 to 3 days ? Wheat berries (for wheat grass). Buckwheat. Lentils with sprouts ? inch long. Pumpkin seeds, sprouts 1//4 inch. Sesame seeds.
3 to 4 days -- Rye and barley with sprouts ? inch in length. Chia, Onion, Cress, Radish, Fenugreek & Poppy with sprouts 1 to 2 inches long.
4 to 5 days -- Mung beans with sprouts at 2 inches. Adzuki beans with sprouts at 1 inch.
One of the nice things about sprouting seeds is that (with the exception of Alfalfa), the sprouts can be added right away to salads and/or sandwiches.
Growing the sproutsTo grow your sprouted seeds, place 1 inch (or more, if required) of your indoor garden soil mixture in a tray. Leave a little trench around the edges to catch excess moisture. Spread the sprouted seeds evenly over the top of the mixture. They can touch, but should not overlap. Sprinkle the tray with water to make it damp, but not soupy/muddy. I like to moisten my soil before adding it to the tray as I can better control the amount of moisture. Do not cover the seeds with soil, as this helps the seeds stay clean and grow faster.
Cover the tray with another tray (upside down). This simulates ground cover for the seeds. Place the covered tray in a temperate spot (65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit). After two or three days, uncover the tray, give the seedlings a good misting/watering (but not too much) and place them in direct light. If there is a greenish-blue mold on your seedlings, they may have soaked too long, been over watered, gotten too warm, or a combination of the three conditions. Discard them and start over giving attention to those elements.
Wheatgrass is ready to harvest when 7 to 10 inches tall. Take a sharp knife and cut it just above the seed. Cut only as much as you need at a serving as the nutrient value will not keep for extended periods after harvest. If you harvest wheatgrass before it reaches its first jointing stage, it will come up several times. The grass can be juiced, or cut up and eaten with salads or alone.
Lettuces are ready for harvest when they are 6 to 12 inches tall.
Individual seed packets should have instructions on the back to tell when each is ready, but 6 inches seems to be a safe height. With Alfalfa, I would only use the leaves past six inches, as I have read cautions about canavine (a toxic amino acid) found in immature plants and sprouts.
Bulb plants (like garlic, onions) and other plants that require more soil depth MAY need to have some soil covering, but I?m not certain about it. I would likely just plant them according to directions on the packet if they had a recommended planting depth of more than ? inch. Less than ? inch recommended planting depth, I would try just placing them on top of the soil, as outlined above.
REUSING THE MATSComposting the used mats that remain after harvest will prevent soil depletion in your indoor garden. Your composting container should have air holes drilled into the sides and bottom to allow aeration. You can line the container with screen material to keep flies out. The container should not be kept in direct sun, but a shaded spot. If you keep a tray underneath the container, it will catch excess moisture, known as compost tea.
The Wheatgrass Book, by Ann Wigmore, recommends placing a layer of used wheatgrass mats, broken up, into the bottom of the container. The next layer should be vegetable scraps. This should be followed by a layer of earthworms, and more broken up mats. As mats are harvested, repeat this layering technique. When the container is almost full, start another bin. In two or three months, you will have rich soil. If you turn the contents with a trowel each week, the rate of decomposition will increase. To use the compost in your indoor garden, mix it with 25 % peat moss.
Ann lived in the city of Boston. She states that composting bins can be kept in a basement, a closet, hallway or porch. If indoors, she recommends ones with tight-fitting lids and wheels for easy access. She also recommends not adding freshly watered mats to the compost as this can make it too damp, adding a handful or two of lime to the mix and some on the surface will control moisture and eliminate any slight odor that might develop as a result of too much moisture. We haven?t noticed any odor with our worm bin.
As I said, we haven?t gotten our indoor garden going yet. Our worms are composting (well, the ones that survived our over-feeding). We are going to start with wheat grass and then try lettuce. We?ll see.
I thought I would add this in case any of you might be looking for ways to save on organic foods and aren?t quite ready to tackle a full-blown garden.
SOURCES:Nourishing Traditions (Revised Second Edition), by Sally Fallon
The Wheatgrass Book, by Ann Wigmore
Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew
http://www.thedailygardener.com/
