Attractive & Effective Gardening & Vermicomposting On Your Porch

It is a gardening trifecta!  Vertical gardening, worm composting and portable.  I took one look at this and did a double-take, did some more digging and this is definitely on my Mother’s Day list!!

These folks have cracked the code!  I am a huge fan of:

• vertical gardening
• container gardening
• worm composting
• organic gardening

This combines it all!  Love it! This is going to sound like a love fest, but I am so impressed with this system, I just had to share!!  Click this link to get your own! Let me break down the components and how it all works together as a system!

Vertical gardening.  Limited space? Grow up!  No need to sprawl. This is the same concept when we cage our tomatoes or trellis our peas.

Vertical gardening also makes it sooo much easier on your back.  The entire thing reduces stooping and bending over. “Thank you” says my back!  Your mom or dad stopping gardening because the physicalness of gardening is beginning to be too much?  This will allow them the joy of growing, and fresh vegetables again! Raise the Garden Tower up on blocks to make it even easier on your back.. Just make sure you can still reach the top to water and add kitchen scraps!!

Container gardening.  Stop the endless digging and weeding.  Poor soil? Clay Soil? Rocky Soil? Sandy Soil?  Moles and nematodes? Soil-borne disease? Not enough room to rotate crops effectively?  Garden in containers! Solves soil issues by filling with a great quality Container or potting mix.  (NO not garden soil, raised bed soil, flower soil, or any other of the names companies put on it…it HAS to say CONTAINER or POTTING soil. 

Moles and digging rodents will stay in the ground, I have not heard any reports of one invading a Garden Tower, and if you get nematodes or a soil borne disease (unlikely, but anything is possible) simply empty soil, wash and refill will fresh potting soil!  Can’t do it that easy in the ground!

Composting…doesn’t it smell, attract pests, take lots of room and a couple of seasons you say?  Your homeowners association won’t allow ,,t you say? Welcome to the world of worm composting! Contained, neat, tidy, non-smelly, quick and easy!  No complaints from your HOA either. Actually you can, and many do, worm compost indoors! Right under the sink even!

To read “The Truth Behind When You Can Reuse Potting Soil”, click here.

The Garden Tower lets you grow 50 plants, all in a small footprint of space, 25” wide, with plant pockets a generous 4” plus you can start from seed or transplants.  This isn’t a dinky little container that you get and wonder what mini plants you will have to use.

The color available right now is terra cotta which is a classic planter color, however if you want to get creative, customers have had good luck with an outdoor spray paint meant for plastic.  Do not expect it to last the 10-12 years these are designed for though. They DID design for the dozen years, but warranted for 3.

Bottom line, if you do not already have glorious fertile raised beds….get one of these.  You will be glad you did 🙂

Related Questions:

How can I grow tomatoes, peppers, herbs and veggies on my deck or balcony?

Vertical gardening is the best way to grow edibles and flowers in a limited space, The Garden Tower makes it simple to grow vertically, control the excess water and garden organically as well.

How to effectively do vermicomposting on my balcony?

Worm composting is the odor-free way to compost in a small space, the Garden Towers lets you do this on your balcony or deck while effectively using the compost without needing to lung it around. It is used in place as it is made!

Is the Garden Tower self-watering?

No, the Garden Tower is not self-watering. However, the sheer mass of soil really does help guard against the roots drying out so quickly. If you need to water in a regular 5-gallon pot daily, in a Garden Tower (same size plants) I would expect you to need only water a couple of times a week. Remember, these plants will most likely grow larger than in a smaller pot, so just check regularly, and a pattern will develop for YOUR plants. As the summer heats up and the plants grow much larger, that pattern WILL change to needing more water…fore warned is forearmed! 🙂

An easy way to deal with watering is to hook your Garden Tower up to automatic irrigation. Remember the worms need moisture too!

For more in depth information on watering potted plants, click here.

Can the garden Tower be brought inside?

Yes! It is a great option for indoors. The tower spins so all sides can bathe in that great sunny window! No super sunny window? They sell a vertical efficient and affordable light kit to bath all sides in light 🙂

If you want to roll in to protect from freezes or to extend the growing season, there is an optional wheel kit to make the entire operation portable (I would avoid stairs though!! That much soil is HEAVY!

You would be well served to put a very large catch pan under the whole thing indoors. Yes, it does not leak and there is a catch pan for moisture to collect the excess. BUT if you are anything like me, I can find a way to spill water indoors any day of the week. Better to be safe than sorry.

Can I really grow full-sized vegetable plants in the garden Tower?

Yes, however, you will need to be creative with staking and trellising for the best results. I wouldn’t do corn…. thinking more about it, corn can work IF the entire thing is corn, so you can get proper pollination.

I would recommend supporting tomatoes with the string method and have what the ends of the string tied to be able to either spin with the tower, or a clip end you can move to a new location when you spin the tower.

Think ahead about how you will address the myriad of challenges with trellised veggies and the infinite ways creative folks have come up with the meet the challenge.

If you want your Garden Tower neat and tidy, without the trellising challenge. Plant salad ingredients. Lettuces, micro-greens, radish, carrot, spinach, herbs, and/or flowers. That would be a good first start.