Zone 0- What are your ideas?

24 years ago

Some Permaculture books talk of inside the house as zone 0. I have been looking at ways to utilize the house to grow food plants, especially in preparation for winter.

Here are some ideas I have come up with:

My west-facing living room has the best sun in the house. My son built a wider shelf onto the picture window sill, where small flats of vegetable seedlings sit on the long planter box bottom trays. A sheet of plastic was taped to the window to keep humidity in, forming a slanting mini greenhouse out over the shelf. When not starting seeds, it is a good shelf for the aloe plant and pots of herbs.

In the two skylights, we have mounted two pot hanging brackets each. We plan to tie pulleys on the ends, and attach ropes through them to raise and lower hanging baskets for watering and harvesting. We purchased hanging pots with reservoirs for water that one fills from the bottom; these also save work, and are much easier on seedlings or seeds. In two of the pots I have planted Wilau chives, a kind that especially grows well indoors.

Lastly, whenever the little Monitor furnace (or woodstove in the same area) is going, we keep a plastic basin full of water in front of the blower to keep the house humidified. I tried growing watercress in the basin this spring, but had trouble with high upkeep from dead leaves; I think I might root some from the store, plant it in pots, and submerge the pots in the basin. An indoor pond, if you like.

Wish I could have a full greenhouse attached to the house, but the sun is so low in winter here in Alaska that it never shines in the windows for about four months. Therefore, am looking at fluorescent lights to grow plants, mounted on the underside of shelves. I hear that stacking plastic letter trays such as they sell in office supply places are a good method of raising and lowering seeds, seedlings, and bigger plants from the light source.

What ideas have you come up with for utilizing your zone 0?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

permafrog
24 years ago
Greetings, I have a large table set in the alcove window in the living room. There I grow/have grown cherry tomatoes, eggplant, basil and bay leaf. I have a compost bin on the balcony which is off the kitchen, just open the door and there it is. I use some greywater to flush the toliet, usually water that I have used to wash small items such as hankies by hand. I do the washing in a bucket. Recycling and reusing play an important role but reducing consumption plays an even greater one.
Fireraven9
24 years ago
I have herbs indoors and I plan to try cherry tomatoes again this winter. We are doing a covered hoop house with coldframes for greens and other winter hardy stuff so that does not really go in zone 0. Our plan is to build in a year or two (self build and pay as we go to avoid the extra cost) and the new house will be passive solar (south windows) and energy efficient with the possibility of solar power being added later. It will have as many energy/resource saving systems built in as we can and it will be possible to grow some indoor fruit (citrus, fig and pomegranate) in those south windows.

Fireraven9
"The field's set. Let's croq." Alas 4/28/01
Related Professionals
Little Rock Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Gainesville Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Muskogee Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Saint Marys Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Albuquerque Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Albany Landscape Contractors · Bloomington Landscape Contractors · Jackson Landscape Contractors · Fort Wayne Landscape Contractors · Cape Coral Home Builders · Port Saint Lucie Home Builders · Fort Dodge Home Builders · Salinas Home Builders · Durango Home Builders · Saint George Home Builders
Kathy_KY
24 years ago
Our house faces south and we have one of those really big windows over our front door in our 2-story foyer. There is a large plant shelf in this area and I'm planning to plant some tomatoes, herbs, and maybe a citrus tree of some kind there.

How do tomato bushes pollinate in Zone 0? Also, any suggestions on what type of tree might do well there?

Kat
microfarmer
24 years ago
I have grown under lights before and florescent is ok but a little on the weak side of light output and spectrum for anything but seedlings. After they get a few inches tall they get spindly unless you let them grow into the bulbs. You might want to put a fixture on each side as well as the top for more light and fuller seedlings (encourages branching). The higher the light gets from the base of the plant, the less branching you get and the more they'll stretch to reach it.

Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium are better suited for full size plants, but they cost more initially, cost more to operate and are hot. Ideally, you can get a single MH and single HPS and put them on oppisite arms of a revolving unit (Sun Circle?) designed to slooowwly circle over the plants making them think it's brighter all over instead of in just one spot. This should be done in a room no smaller than about 8'x8'.

The MH and HPS have different light spectrums so you can just change bulbs on a single socket on a single, one armed revolving unit as you switch from vegetative growth to fruit production (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc.) but in a room no smaller than 6'x6'.

Remember not to touch the bulbs with your fingers. The oils will shorten their life. A single light will prolly be ok for vegetative growth in non fruiting veggies too and will be cheaper to set up and operate. I forget which is better for what but I think MH is the one you should get first as it's being better for the fruiting. It will support good vegetative growth as well so you may not need a HPS bulb.

Also you can grow veggies in a closet (up to about 6'x6') and just use a single MH (non-revolving) and paint the walls bright white (or use aluminium foil) and add a couple side florescent fixtures to combat stretching and encourage branching. This should get you some veggies for those 4 months of no sun.

Nothing like fresh veggies in the heart of winter.
caitzs
24 years ago
Well, I have an avocado, ginger, 2 pineapples, 4 oranges, 4 lemons, 9 lemongrass, a lychee and a bunch of scented geraniums all in 2 windows of my little apartment, but I don't expect them to give me much produce.

I tried growing my own starts once for the veggie garden, but it required so much energy for a few plants that I figured a commercial greenhouse would be more efficient than I could ever be. Anyway, I can grow veggies in the winter here, so why waste fossil fuels on growing them inside?

I've concentrated more on collecting rainwater and composting as much as possible. They are things I can do without using any fossil-fuel energy. I'd also like to be off the grid using solar or hydro power, but I don't have control over that here.
seraphima
Original Author
24 years ago
The planter pots I plan to bring in are ready now; four self-watering pots; 2 of Wilau chives, 1 of parsley, 1 of English thyme. The edible geranium will come inside, as will the big pot with curly golden marjoram and arp rosemary.

I did get the flourescent installed in the window, on an adjustable chain. The hardware store was having a sale on Noon sun type bulbs, so I bought 2. Hope to plant up a couple of interior window boxes this week.

On another front, have been harvesting and drying many plants like celery, chamomile, sage, garlic. Trying out making of herb vinegars. Freezing chopped chives, salmonberries, chopped rhubarb, and salmon. Wild mushroom season starts soon!