Gardeners

[scarlet]

I love to garden, and I will miss it when we move aboard full time. I was Christmas shopping today and found one of these....

https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-Ex...rds=aerogarden

Anyone ever use one of these on a boat?

[Meanderthal]

A friend of mine did, and it was just fine, but we agreed there are lots of low maintenance edibles and houseplants that do just fine. I've grown cuban oregano, parsley, ferns, lavender, juniper, and rosemary aboard.

[Jim Cate]

Ohh, THAT kinda gardeners! I thought this was a thread about big old school diesel engines, and that auto correct had gotten it wrong.

Jim

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ohh, THAT kinda gardeners! I thought this was a thread about big old school diesel engines, and that auto correct had gotten it wrong.

Jim

i get moss and lichen growing on the decks over winter...does that count as having a garden onboard

the spring pressure wash must count as gardening ?

[Meanderthal]

Lol, sure.

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by atoll

i get moss and lichen growing on the decks over winter...does that count as having a garden onboard

the spring pressure wash must count as gardening ?

I love that!!

[Mike OReilly]

We had one of those areogardens in our last land home. Actually works pretty well, but does require a fair bit of power to run grow lights and pump. I could see running it while tied to the dock, but we're mostly on the hook.

We usually have a pot of herbs growing, and I also sprout when cruising. This keeps us in fresh stuff while travelling.

[sparrowhawk1]

YouTube has a bunch of videos on the kracty system. It's basically plants in a net cup with a container of hydroponic solution below. With lettuce you don't have to do anything except plant them.

[AndyEss]

Herbs in small containers do fine - just remember to protect them from saltwater spray. Sharing your cockpit with a lot of plants might not always be the best choice of companions. Keep the containers pretty light so you can move them around easily. Remember to allocate fresh water from your budget for your buds.

[Meanderthal]

We've got too many boat projects going on right now for me to keep plants alive and intact right now, but I wanted to expand on an earlier post.

I have grown the following in small spaces and/or on the sailboat:

--cuban oregano, rosemary, lavender (regular potting soil, pot hung, and restrained with bungee cord so as not to swing) [SELECT SALT-TOLERANT PLANT SPECIES SUCH AS THOSE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, all caps because any plant in the cockpit or elsewhere topsides will get salt spray.]

--scallions, ginger, crocus, sweet potato slips, avocado slips, garlic greens, tulips, celery regrowth, second romain sprout, carrot trimmings sprout (anything having shallow growth patterns, or a bulb as a food source, or regrowth behavior, can be grown in the sunniest spot, in a secured clear pot lined with mesh or some sort of spacer and topped with water [note: the type of material used to fill true outdoor cushions should be drain-through, which is acceptable for this medium, as it gridlocks the water while the plant roots can stay pleasantly moist but not waterlogged])

--sprouts (all kinds, I think there are dozens of threads on the topic of growing sprouts. there are harder and easier ways--specific to how you live on a boat, the types of containers used, eating habits, sail plans, galley conformation)

--microgreens grown in a fodder style system

--rooting cuttings

--more traditional items (tomatoes, etc) that CAN be grown on a boat, but my goodness the work/yield and space/yield ratios do NOT pay off. Don't bother, IMO. You'd be better served figuring out how to roast, can, dry a bushel of farmer-sourced tomatoes than grow a few cherry tomatoes after months of hovering over the plant.

In general, knowing your plants and their preferences, you can select plant species in line with where you can house them and the medium you plan on using. If you plan on crossing state or country borders with your boat, you may find all your plants are confiscated. (or none, it's a crapshoot)

Also, I don't count this as a category of gardening, per se...but buying potted herbs and etc is a good way to have fresh herbs aboard--buy fresh cut, buy potted live, buy fresh dried--eat the fresh cut stuff first, the potted live stuff 2nd, and the dried herbs last or as appropriate. As you defoliate the plants, toss the pots and soil. Less extreme than carrying live chickens ;-). However, this strategy becomes riskier in areas with infestation issues. You will have to curate carefully.


Hope this helps! I find a way to work in someone's land garden every year, to appease the longing for cultivating living things, so I understand completely :-)!!

[CaptTom]

My wife bought one of those years ago, in our land home. It was kinda fun for a while, but the amount of effort for very little reward has left it unused for years. You don't need to use all their supplies, you can DIY somewhat, but it takes some effort.

The name is a little misleading. There's a water reservoir and it circulates water all the time. Doesn't seem like it would be happy on a boat. Beyond the water sloshing, I don't think it would physically survive pitching and rolling without some serious engineering to hold everything in place.

Still, this is a worthwhile discussion. Fresh herbs aboard (or even at home, in our case) would be nice to have. Maybe this will motivate me to plant some.

[sapient sue]

I grow my herbs with hydroponics - hence no soil onboard which the Captain thinks is great and the hydropinic beads required low maintenance just some water and liquid feed now and again.

[sparrowhawk1]

Well I have so much stuff piled on top you can't even see the lettuce but trust me it's beautiful and a big pile of it I couldn't even finish the salad. I've been eating about a dozen Tomatoes a day and just a little bit of lettuce this is my first salad and onion greens are also from my garden.

[sparrowhawk1]

I thought I had photos of my garden on this thread.when I have some time I'll go through all the other threads on the subject. And have recommendations. I also recommend to anyone doing a search, use different words to describe the same thing. PS in case it wasn't clear the lettuce tomatoes and onion greens were from my garden.

[Mike OReilly]

That’s pretty darn impressive Sparrow. Would love to see pics of your setup.