A tower of a garden
This past spring (From the Ground Up, May 31, 2018) I wrote about the continuing trend of home vegetable growing and mentioned some of the latest systems and gadgetry for raising food indoors; many people want the enjoyment and benefits of “growing their own,” but not everyone has a sunny yard and the space for an in-ground garden.
I invited readers to contact me if they had any experience with a “seed-to-harvest” indoor system. In response to my query, I heard from Malvern resident Hallie Steinberg, who has been growing vegetables using something called the Tower Garden. Steinberg invited me to come take a look.
The Tower Garden goes a giant step beyond any of the small, countertop systems I knew about. It looks like a hydroponic system, but it’s actually “aeroponic.” At the base is a 20-gallon capacity water tank. A plastic tower, about 4 feet tall and with “ports” for plants, rests on the base. A small pump delivers water to the top level of the tower. The water, enriched with liquid nutrients, trickles down through the roots of the plants, delivering not just water and nutrients, but also oxygen, which plant roots need for good, healthy growth.
The system is designed for both indoor and outdoor use. When I visited Steinberg, her tower was outside, taking advantage of the summer sun and more space. (The Tower Garden is not small. Add sprawling tomatoes, squash, or melons, and that’s a lot of plant volume.) Twenty gallons of water is heavy. Steinberg’s Tower Garden sits on a dolly, which lets her wheel the unit out of doors and back indoors again. Outside, she rotates the unit as needed to get direct sun to all sides.
The Tower Garden is not just impressive looking. It also produces a huge quantity of produce. The promotional informa--
tion states that you will get, on average, “30% more, 3x faster, with 98% less water.” Pointing out the huge, indeterminate tomato plant growing in her unit as an example, Steinberg told me, “Plants can go crazy. We were harvesting zucchini in 21 days.” As further demonstration, Steinberg lifted the lid of the water tank to reveal the root system for the zucchini plants growing near the base. Coming up out of the water, the long, dense roots looked like the baleen in a whale’s mouth.
The Tower Garden website lists 46 vegetables that grow easily in the unit, including lettuce, cucumbers, melons, broccoli, tomatoes, and squash. Also strawberries. Herbs listed include everything from angelica to wormwood. In between are pretty much all the favorites you can think of: basil, chives, cilantro, cumin, “cutting” celery, dill, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, sage, stevia, and thyme.
In the Tower Garden you can even grow edible flowers, such as marigolds, pansies, and nasturtium, as well as a host of ornamental flowers. In fact, except for root vegetables, bramble fruits (raspberries, blackberries), trees, and shrubs, you can grow just about anything.
Another thing impressive about the Tower Garden is the price. A single unit, which Steinberg says keeps her family of five in good supply, costs $525. For both indoor and outdoor use, the dolly ($70) is a good idea. Indoors, you’ll need the LED light array ($250) and the support cage ($60). Is the investment worth it? On the Tower Garden website, they offer statistics showing that you can recoup your investment in six months. (www.towergarden.com/content/towergardenblog/en/2015/8/tower-garden-yield-value.html)
But there can also be intangible value. For instance, what would it mean to you to have your kids pick and eat greens right from a vegetable garden, right in your house? That’s what happened in Steinberg’s family.
For complete information about the Tower Garden, go to www.towergarden.com..
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail.com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Share your gardening stories on Facebook at “Chester County Roots.” And check out Pam’s new book for children and families: Big Life Lessons from Nature’s Little Secrets. Available at amazon.com.