The Windowsill Farmer

Perfect food plants to grow indoors.

by Dan Falck

With gardening season pretty much over and the cold and dark season lying ahead, I’m starting my “inside gardening.” That means moving some of my food plants indoors as well as sprouting a few new ones. And yes, you too can grow herbs and tomatoes in the dead of winter.

Your first consideration is dirt. Take some from the garden before it’s all frozen or mucky (if you don’t have garden soil, you can substitute potting mix). If you have any well-aged compost, you can bring in some of this, too.

Remember that the micro-organisms in the soil will do wonders for your plants indoors as well as outdoors, so you want to make sure the soil and compost do not dry out. Until you’re ready to plant, you may want to store them in a bucket with a lid. Also, get some perlite and peat moss; they both lighten the mix and hold moisture well so you won’t have to water your plants as often.

For nutrition, the compost will do the trick. For minerals, I add five to eight (crushed) Norwegian kelp supplement pills (available in the health supplement section of your favourite store) to every one gallon of mix. Don’t forget to take some of these yourself, too; they boost your immune system.

When you’re ready to mix, use three parts soil, one part compost, one part peat moss, and one part perlite. Add only enough water to moisten lightly.

You can use any container—fancy, decorative, expensive, or cheap—but containers three to four inches deep work best. I like to recycle, and this is a great opportunity to use some of the excessive plastic that surrounds us, like the big tubs salad greens come in. (They’re roomy enough to be mini greenhouses when the lids are on.)

For bigger containers, fill with soil to within three-quarters of an inch of the top.

Light is important. A south- or southeast-facing window is ideal. You can also supplement with artificial lights (see options at homeharvest.com/lightingmain.htm).

Now, which plants tickle your fancy? From simple to challenging, here are a few you may want to try.

• Sprouts (alfalfa, lentils, broccoli, etc.): no soil needed; kits and lots of “how to” info are available.
• Lettuces: plant seeds in two to four inches of soil. They grow quickly and taste just as delicious grown inside as outside.
• Herbs: plant from seed or bring your perennials (such as basil, oregano, tarragon, and rosemary) indoors, and put in pots.
• Peppers: grow little ones if space is an issue (they get up to a foot high, eight inches wide); larger peppers can grow up to two feet and need more heat to ripen.
• Fruit: for tomatoes, choose a dwarf cherry variety, unless you live in a mansion.
• Exotics: banana, avocado, and citrus all grow indoors, but it’s challenging to get them to bear fruit. Lime trees are easy to grow from seed, and the young leaves can be added to salads and curries.

As for me, this year I’m going to try something new—not to save on my food bill, but, well, just because I want to: carrots! I’m going to see if, by January, I can be eating my own fresh carrots. And I’m going to transplant my stevia roots from the garden and see if they will regrow green leaves. If they do, I’ll sweeten my carrot cake with it—and eat it, too.

Dag Falck loves gardening inside and out and believes organic principles are applicable to both. How much more local and organic can you get?