Growing Vegetables in Weird Places

Posted on 14. Aug, 2010 by Tracey in News

This post was inspired by an article I saw on the web a few months ago about growing vegetables in space. There must be plenty of wacky and unusual places that people grow vegetables so heres a few to get you started. If you know of any weird places to grow veg that I’ve missed, please link them in the comments box.

The International Space Station

Veg in Space

This has got to be the number one weirdest place to grow vegetables. A study has been underway for years on the International Space Station to try and discover the best procedures and methods to safely grow their own vegetables in their space garden.

The space garden is a chamber which has similarities to a greenhouse as its water and light levels are controlled. So far they have experimented with growing lettuce, peas and radishes.

Source: NASA website

A Supermarket Rooftop

Roof Top Garden

In a calibration with Thorntons Budgens and The positive earth project, a community project has been setup in north london to grow an edible and organic garden on top of its budgens supermarket rooftop.

Earlier this month 10 tonnes of soil where craned onto the roof and 20 volunteers helped sow the first seeds in the sky roof garden. They have plans to sell the vegetables in the supermarket below and water and old plants will be recycled back into the garden by composting.

Sources: BBC News and Food From The Sky

A River Barge

The Science Barge, New York

This science barge is docked in new york and provides a large scale demonstration for local schools and city dwellers to see how easy it is to grow your own vegetables in the city. The large greenhouses on top of the barge are climate controlled by wind and solar power and even the diesel generators are run on recycled vegetable oil.

The barge grows lettuce, chard, pak choi, tomatoes and cucumbers with no pesticides using purified water which is recycled throughout the extensive hydroponic systems onboard the barge.

Sources: Raw Earth Living
Video – Hydroponics in the City
The Science Barge

In the Arctic and in the Desert

The Desert

In Nunavut, the northern tip of canada near greenland, the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society has been growing vegetables for years in its purpose built 17 foot high greenhouse to prove its never to cold to grow vegetables. Its -30 degrees outside but the greenhouse plants are heated to 30 degrees above zero and only dropping to 14 in winter.

Source: Siku News
An Arctic Gardeners Delight

In Las Vagas, vegetables can be grown in any spot open to sunshine for at least 6 hours. The PH of the soil and rainwater are things to consider when growing in the desert and compost must be used so there is sufficient nutrients for vegetables to grow in. Mulch is a must to conserve water as much as possible.

Sources: Examiner.com and eHow

On Mars

Growing Veg on Mars?

According to the NASAs Phoenix Mars Landers report in June 2008, the soil discovered near the north pole is very similar to that on planet Mars and it could be ripe to grow vegetables like asparagus. Mars’s arctic plains have a PH of 8 or 9 which is very alkaline but only certain vegetables can be grown in it. They have discovered that the soil particles contain water so the hunt is on for any other forms of life on the planet.

Source: Thaindian News and Treehugger

Other Weird Plant and Vegetable Stories:

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