3 Ways to Keep Growing Vegetables Indoors During Winter
Morgan Rogue 02.07.23
While I believe a greenhouse is a great way to keep growing all-year long, there are many reasons you may not want to grow in your greenhouse year-round or even have the option to have a greenhouse.
For those living in small spaces, growing indoors is a reliable way to have fresh produce year-round.
The winter makes growing genuinely more difficult. Many like to cover their outdoor plants or bring them inside.
But there are much easier ways to keep growing through winter and have a steady supply of nutritious produce that you grow yourself!
Will these indoor growing options supply enough for you to preserve? No. But that’s not the point of these methods. These will provide year-round fresh, nutritious produce at any time of the year.
Here are 3 ways to grow vegetables indoors during winter:
Tower Garden –
I love the idea of being able to grow in more abundance with a hydro tower garden that can also utilize grow lights. There are several different brands of tower gardens and many of them have installment plans.
The way it works is, they provide pods with seeds in them already, or you can buy just the pods and put your own seeds in it to grow. This will require a little corner of your home, but because of the grow lights and hydroponics system, this can even be placed in the basement, just as long as it doesn’t get below freezing, of course.
It does require electricity for the grow lights and hydroponics, but it’s a fairly insignificant amount of energy being used.
This system can also grow food a lot faster.
You can grow basil, peppers, squash, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, strawberries, and cucumbers and so so so much more! You can grow all kinds of herbs, flowers and vegetables in a tower garden.
Countertop aeroponics –
This is similar to a tower garden but it doesn’t take up as much space. There are lots of brands varying in different sizes. However, it’s a countertop system so it can sit in your kitchen, for example. It uses grow lights and a pump for hydroponics.
This also uses pods that you can buy with seeds already in them or you can buy empty pods to use your own seeds.
The majority of brands are very quiet.
Grow your own herbs and vegetables right on your counter!
Microgreens and Sprouts –
This is a tried and true method of growing indoors. Growing microgreens and sprouts are easy and take up little space. They don’t need electricity for grow lights or a pump. You can place them near a sunny window and that’ll be good enough. They grow quickly and you can have fresh greens every 2-4 weeks on consistent rotation.
BONUS – start some plants in pots and place them under a grow light. This is always an effective way of growing food. Though it does take a while and we do have to consider the possibility of houseflies; growing in dirt under grow lights works great. You may need some dedicated space for this, but I used a single shelf on one of my wire shelves and it worked out great. I placed some seed-starting trays underneath to catch the water.
Use a variety of these options, or all four, if you want! You can get really in-depth with your indoor growing, even create a whole wall of edible plants if you so desire.
The options are only limited by your imagination and drive to provide food for you and your household year-round.
Which indoor options are best for you?
