THE RISE OF URBAN PERMACULTURE: Six easy and innovative ways to grow food in an urban environment

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THE RISE OF URBAN PERMACULTURE: Six easy and innovative ways to grow food an urban environment

More and more people are realizing that the only way to truly know where your food is coming from, and to be aware as to what is being sprayed on it, is to grow it themselves. Permaculture is increasing in popularity as companies like Monsanto and CarGill attempt to monopolize food supplies around the world.

Here’s six innovative ideas that allow gardeners the chance to grow food in their own homes and apartments, without land or thousands in investment. With a bit of ingenuity even an appartment can grow you food.

1) Aquaponics: Is the merging of aquaculture and hydroponics into a self sustainable system that allows permaculturists to grow various edible plants indoors, harvest fish and deploy an efficient and organic fertilizer, ie fish waste, in one contained kit.

2) Wall Garden: Using walls for growing is an increasingly popular idea and many new products are becoming available. In an urban environment, using all available space becomes a necessity. Growing usable plants on walls is becoming an essential way of growing in urban environments.

3) Rooftop Gardens: The rooftops of a city are the most under utilized land found in urban centers. Using rooftops for gardening and growing food is not a new idea, however only recently has it been catching on. Creating rooftop community gardens and using open, sun drenched spaces on rooftops has the capacity to feed entire cities with there own home grown greens.

4) Window Farms: Using all available space is the essence of effiencent urban permaculture practices. Easy and cheap do-it-yourself window gardens employ plastic bottles and a water pump to create self watering systems that utilize the windows of your home to grow vegetable and herbs.

5) Mushroom box: Love mushrooms? Grow them at home with only a tray worth of space and add another contingent to your urban gardening capabilities. Growing and harvesting mushrooms is a great way to save money, to use fresh home grown produce and to expand nutrition and your home grown organic diet.

6) Sprouting trays: In your own home dozens of types of sprouts seeds is an easy and cheap way to had flare to salads and dishes. Sprouts like peas, buckwheat and broccoli are all rich in vitamins and nutrients, but there a dozens of kinds such as alfalfa and radish that can be grown pretty much anywhere inside your home where there is light.Typically sprouts can be harvested every three to seven days depending on the type.