The Closet Gardener: The Basics Pt. 1
Last summer I got a bit of a gardening bug. I bought a bunch of locally grown plants and was really successful in growing a variety of herbs to use in my cooking. I had a series of boxes sitting in my three West x Northwest-facing window sills. It was great having basil, oregano and thyme for my tomato sauces and lots of mint for my smoothies and mixed drinks. Then came autumn....
I live in a north facing apartment and as the days got shorter, my windows got less and less light. All of my plants slowly died. The only one that survived was a jasmine plant I got from my mom and even though it made it to see another summer, it's probably the saddest specimen living.
By February, every trip to the grocery store found me slightly disgruntled at the prospect of paying 3 or 4 bucks for an 8 oz. package of weak-looking "fresh" herbs. It was about that time that I started researching indoor gardening. The only real resources that I could find were weed-growing websites. I wasn't looking to grow pot, but I took the basic premise and went with it. I had some mishaps along the way, but the end product has been a bountiful and low-cost closet garden to supplement my cooking and eating needs. It is a fun hobby and a good way to eat well/live cheap as a struggling artist.
In a series of posts, I'm going to document some basic approaches to closet gardening which I've developed to help you make your own low-light, limited-space garden.
