Window farms are urban vegetable gardens that can be started anywhere, even if you don’t have a patch of ground to plant on. In fact, people have started successful farms high up in sky rise apartments! Imagine growing your own salad, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and spices! All from your window space!
“How is this possible?” you might ask. It’s possible because window farms don’t need a large plot of ground to plant in, and if you are willing to go the extra mile, you don’t even need natural sunlight!
How it works:
Window farms are a new breed of indoor hydroponic gardening, that is much simpler to operate and maintain. They use upcycled PET bottles as planters and water tanks. The PET bottles are arranged in a vertical tower, so that plants can be ‘stacked’ and watering is a closed loop. Water goes up to the top plant, then drips down to the plants below, finally returning to the water tank at the bottom. Utilizing just an aquarium air pump and some tubing, you can water several plants automatically throughout the day.
The best part is that a successful window farm can fit in… a WINDOW!
To find out more, visit http://www.windowfarms.org
My suggestion is that your 10/10 group members build a few systems at home and try them out. You have about a month to get familiar. Then, on 10/10, you organize a large group to build their own farms, or to build a massive system for a community or civic space, such as an elementary school, or a library! Imagine the educational value such a system could provide to your community of young minds!
— Emery Premeaux
P.s. for other interesting ideas for 10/10 events, check out:
Earthships – sustainable village structures from recycled materials
A sustainable dwelling made from earth and discarded tires. Most places simply burn the tire rubber, releasing all sorts of evil gasses into the air. Upcycle them into sustainable community structures!
Geocaching – a world wide treasure hunt
Geocaching is an outdoor hobby, sort of like a scavenger hunt, in which you utilize a GPS module to find a hidden cache. You could use geocaching to make your 10/10 outdoor activities much more fun. How about placing some Geocaches in areas that you want people to do trash pickup on a beach, or in a neighborhood?
Solar Mintyboost – Build your own solar powered gadget charger!
If you have a hackerspace nearby, how about engaging them to help your group build personal solar gadget chargers? Hackerspaces are always willing to get involved and have the resources and knowledge base to teach groups how to DIY just about anything you can imagine. For a list of Hackerspaces near you, try