Growing spaces are like people. There are many shapes and sizes. But, not all of us have the affordability of land. Some have land and cannot use it whilst some others just do not have anywhere to set roots. Housing and land are atrociously out of reach for many of we. Making people’s self-sufficiency very limited. But there is a movement based on DOWNSIZING property and living dwellings called TINY HOMES and VAN LIFE.
This helps mitigate the HOUSING CRISIS across the globe. And with all it’s benefits, there is one notable lack these homes find hard to achieve if at all. WHERE CAN WE GROW OUR PLANTS AND FOOD? IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE? Especially if one is on the move frequently.
Over the years SUBURBAN FARMER has helped many people solve this issue and truly make these tiny houses and van’s a REAL HOME! YES WITH FRESH, LIVING, REAL PLANTINGS!!
But, Ras Mark, how? It’s actually quite simple. But, it does take creativity. Let me explain… I will use some of the builds I have done to help overstand.
One of the first builds I did was for a TOYOTA COASTER BUS. The scope was to create a living window oxygen cleanser. This was a great build. The space they had available was a window sil. This was not sufficient in terms of structural integrity, so we created a large lip and supported it with braces. Being that the window was right next to the sink and also the bedroom, it was a perfect spot to test this out in real life. Now that the window had a ledge, I was able to put in place a set of partitioned storage boxes, flipped upright to create horizontal pigeonholes. Next was to create a way to house these plants. A way that wouldn’t create any safety issues and pose any annoyances or hazards during travel. The answer was COCO COIR GROW BAGS. These bags fitted perfectly in the sections. With enough room to add in a grate and catch pan for collecting run off. To test for spillage, I had set a week plan to oversaturate the coco and allow excess run off to collect whilst this beautiful couple and their dog and cats roamed around driving and exploring. Upon return, there was no spillage and the coco bags were in place, no damage or signs of issues. So another weeks 4wding in the tow along SIERRA, had not only the family enjoying the coast and dunes, but also 6 coco bags. Strange yes, but I had to be sure that no amount of twisting and turning would cause an issue. After the two weeks, we then primed the coco coir and added in 6 bundles of SANSEVIERA/DRACAENA TRIFASCIATA or MOTHER IN LAWS TONGUE. A brilliant oxygen cleanser and beautiful to observe, easy care and like low lighting. Three years on, they still over their plants and have added other plantings. But I will talk about those plants in the next build.
The second one I did was on a TINY HOME TRAILER. This was a doozy. Not only was I asked to create a flower garden, but also, as they were really into hydroponics at their standing home, to incorporate, if possible, hydroponics. They has the solar power already set up, they had the space for another small water reservoir, they had the will, but did they have the space? The working area was less than 1mL, 0.5mW and 0.6mH. Not ideally the amount of room needed. But I love challenges.
Let’s start with the flower garden. I saw that in their design, that the main entrance side swung outwards to make it open air flow. The size amount was 2m2. This was a great win for us. Now I can utilize this vertical space and turn an otherwise, vacant wall, into a full blown meadow of cottage flowers and lush greenery. Sizing up the right hanging fabric planters and stapling them to a fixed marine ply backing board with geofabric textile and a jute backing, I added structural hanging hooks to remove or shift from the entrance door and dolly wheels for the bottom. I used a drip irrigation set up with the input/inflow at the top dribbling and working it’s way down to a collection point (old metal rain gutter) and into a sealed reservoir with removable lid. Coco filled pouches with cottage flowers, a seating table for two and more coco bags of different ferns, and a fiddle leaf fig. BLISS!
Now to the hydroponics. Seeing that the space was considerably smaller than the flower garden, I had to think harder. But then I remembered about two school aged hydroponic activity classes I gave where we reused 4L food grade tubs and made a bench top NFT system for 6 plants (leafy greens/Asian greens/herbs). This concept of KRATKY HYDROPONICS as well as NUTRIENT FILM TECHNIQUE and DRAIN TO WASTE COCO BAGS in a tiny home is going to be Irie/fun and exciting. Using the spare bench space on offer, I constructed a tiny NFT system for 6 plantings. This whole unit was a complete single unit. The spare shoe tub they had for excess storage became the reservoir. It had a clip side lid and seal to boot! Then on top of the reservoir I had two paradelle flat NFT channels at 90cm length. The inflow side had a blanking cap to stop water from flowing out, the outlet had a spouted end cap directing the water into the reservoir below. The little 12v pump in the reservoir pushed the water to the inlet side of the NFT and it flowed back towards the outlet and out again. I used 40mm net cups and after filling and testing for spillage over a weeks drive, we then added an LED GROW PANEL LIGHT above to maximize the vertical growth allowance, then planted the seedlings. All set on a DC TIMER and growing as they go. There was more spaces as one can always find when in need, so we added drain to waste coco bags for larger, longer growth season plantings and even some JAM JAR KRATKY herbs like coriander and parley which would get secured away with the grow bags in the storage when in transport.
So there you GROW, or GO. You can garden in tiny homes and vans! Get GROWING!!
Blissful and Safe Travels
Ras Mark Suburban Farmer 2018