If you missed the first part of the Tower Garden series, you can read it here.
Why do I need a Tower Garden?
You may be wondering why do you need a Tower Garden. Last week I started to explain why the Tower Garden is the answer to so many problems we face today, so let’s carry on where we left off!
Before we do, I want to share a video with you by Dickson Despommier. Dickson Despommier is a microbiologist who, in recent years, has received much media coverage on his ideas on Vertical Farming. He says that if we carry on farming the way we are there will not be enough nutrients in the soil in 100 years time. By farming vertical we have enough for 1000 years. Watch his TEDx presentation here or his BIG IDEAS video below.
The Tower Garden is SUSTAINABLE
Many areas in the US have experienced extreme droughts over the past 10 years. The Tower Garden uses just 5%- 10% of the water and minerals normally used in conventional gardening so it’s great for the environment.
Back to some boring stuff (but very important for an investment like this). Now I wouldn’t buy a brand new car if it was going to fall apart after a year or two, would you? The Tower Garden is double UV protected so, unlike your 5 gallon bucket that breaks up into lots of pieces after a summer in the sun, the Tower Garden will last for years and years! Then you have the small, low wattage submersible pump that can easily be powered by solar, with a battery back up if you want to get off the grid completely! If you don’t have solar it will run you less than $15 a year! Pouring gallon after gallon of water and fertilizer into the soil, to just wash away is hardly sustainable, is it?
The Tower Garden SAVES TIME
If you read my first Tower Garden post here you will remember our attempt and fail at an in ground garden, where I mentioned that the weeds were towering above my tomato plants. With no weeding, digging or tilling, and very little maintenance, the Tower Garden is fantastic for those with hectic lives. I don’t know about you, but I am currently trying to juggle 101 things at once. Aren’t we all? “I don’t have time to start and maintain a garden” is no longer an excuse! It takes just 15-20 minutes to assemble a Tower Garden (most of that time is spent filling the reservoir) and about the same each week to maintain it. If you are short on time and want to garden, you need a Tower Garden!
The Tower Garden SAVES MONEY
Say goodbye to the $5 bagged lettuce in the bottom of the refrigerator that needs tossing, or the half a bunch of parsley that is no longer fresh, or the kale that has gone soft. Having FRESH, NUTRITIOUS produce right outside means you can harvest what you need, when you need it and leave the rest on the Tower so you have less waste! It’s a win win!
The Tower Garden is COST EFFECTIVE
Did you add up how much the soil and timber costs to make the raised beds? Not to mention the gas and time to get the store and the time to put it together. Then add the time weeding, preparing the soil, watering daily, the list goes on. The Tower Garden costs approximately $55 a month (depending on your local taxes), is shipped to your door (anywhere in the 48 contiguous states), takes approximately 20 minutes to assemble and maintenance is about 15-20 minutes a week!
How many of you watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? Did you see the episode when he quizzed the High School kids on where butter, honey, cheese and chocolate came from? If you haven’t seen the episode then click here you will either crack up laughing or your jaw will drop in shock when you hear their replies. Obviously you can’t grow any of those things in a Tower Garden BUT if they think butter comes from corn (watch it if you don’t believe me) then how will they know lettuce comes from a plant and not Publix or Walmart?
Now watch the video below. Have you seen what happens when kids get involved in gardening? They take an interest in the food, they are excited about it, check on it’s progress and they WANT TO EAT IT! In the video below you will see Dr Jan Young (the founder of Living Towers, my mother-in-law) delivering a couple of Tower Gardens to the First Presbyterian School of Mount Dora, FL. They are one of four schools in the area that have Tower Gardens.
But wait! There’s more! Urghh, I sound like one of those terrible infomercials, but it’s hard not to. But there are even MORE reasons why you should seriously consider investing in a Tower Garden and you will see them in the next post. Notice how I said investing, not purchasing. You are investing in the health of you and your family, or whoever you choose to share the produce with.
