M
m00nchild
Arkitekt, I'll find you a couple examples and post them here later. I'm not making this stuff up, as I have been following various blogs and online communities pertaining to urban and indoor farming for a long time, and it is my goal to be 100% self sufficient with food. It's just, I don't have any examples favorited at the moment or anything.
Keep in mind that I am talking about growing 100% of the family's produce, not 100% of the family's food in general. And also, keep in mind that I said a combination of patio/balcony and window farming. If your house has lots of windows, you probably CAN get by on window farming alone, but I think it's safe to say that the window farming has to be supplemented by some regular old soil farming outside, whether on the roof, in a yard, on the balcony whatever.
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, with just my girlfriend. We don't have any kids. But we grow about 90% of our produce in our windows and outside in a little patch of sunny grass next to where my apartment building keeps its garbage cans. Out there we grow potatoes, mostly, since potatoes contain 100% of everything that humans need for nutrition (not many people know this about potatoes). We also plant some carrots out here from time to time.
But inside, we have 5 windows that we are using as window farms. 2 south facing ones for the veggies that need full light as much as possible, 2 east facing ones for lettuces and cabbages, and other veggies that need morning sun, and 1 north facing one that doesnt get much light at all and is supplemented by a couple of 26w spiral screw-in fluoros. That is it.
I will find you some examples of people who are doing it successfully, and actually grow enough produce to take the excess to the farmer's market and trade it for grains and/or meat. These are the examples I came across, back in the day, which made me realize once and for all that I really CAN grow my own vegetables in an apartment.
And you need to remember that climate has little-to-nothing to do with what plants you can grow inside your house, as long as you have a controlled climate in your living space. As far as cold temperatures outside, on your balcony or whatever, the other trick is doing your homework and learning which varieties of which vegetables grow well in your climate. Another trick, which everyone gardening outdoors in confined spaces should be doing, is crop rotation, so that you are gardening seasonally, which is the way Nature intended it.
Trust me, folks, it can be done, and I will find you all some anecdotal evidence of this. Stay tuned. In the meantime, if you so desire, you can do like I did and begin your own research. Start by googling "vertical farming" and "window farming," and you will quickly see what I've seen.
(I also want to quickly mention here that setting up a small "henhouse" inside your house or apartment is actually very feasible as well, because hens don't make loud noises, and your neighbors won't know or care. This is a great and fun way to get your own eggs. Someone I know set up a small henhouse in their back patio, using a rubbermaid storage shed kind of thing that you have to hunch over to walk inside of, and they get like a half dozen eggs each morning, from only 3 or 4 hens.)
Keep in mind that I am talking about growing 100% of the family's produce, not 100% of the family's food in general. And also, keep in mind that I said a combination of patio/balcony and window farming. If your house has lots of windows, you probably CAN get by on window farming alone, but I think it's safe to say that the window farming has to be supplemented by some regular old soil farming outside, whether on the roof, in a yard, on the balcony whatever.
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, with just my girlfriend. We don't have any kids. But we grow about 90% of our produce in our windows and outside in a little patch of sunny grass next to where my apartment building keeps its garbage cans. Out there we grow potatoes, mostly, since potatoes contain 100% of everything that humans need for nutrition (not many people know this about potatoes). We also plant some carrots out here from time to time.
But inside, we have 5 windows that we are using as window farms. 2 south facing ones for the veggies that need full light as much as possible, 2 east facing ones for lettuces and cabbages, and other veggies that need morning sun, and 1 north facing one that doesnt get much light at all and is supplemented by a couple of 26w spiral screw-in fluoros. That is it.
I will find you some examples of people who are doing it successfully, and actually grow enough produce to take the excess to the farmer's market and trade it for grains and/or meat. These are the examples I came across, back in the day, which made me realize once and for all that I really CAN grow my own vegetables in an apartment.
And you need to remember that climate has little-to-nothing to do with what plants you can grow inside your house, as long as you have a controlled climate in your living space. As far as cold temperatures outside, on your balcony or whatever, the other trick is doing your homework and learning which varieties of which vegetables grow well in your climate. Another trick, which everyone gardening outdoors in confined spaces should be doing, is crop rotation, so that you are gardening seasonally, which is the way Nature intended it.
Trust me, folks, it can be done, and I will find you all some anecdotal evidence of this. Stay tuned. In the meantime, if you so desire, you can do like I did and begin your own research. Start by googling "vertical farming" and "window farming," and you will quickly see what I've seen.
(I also want to quickly mention here that setting up a small "henhouse" inside your house or apartment is actually very feasible as well, because hens don't make loud noises, and your neighbors won't know or care. This is a great and fun way to get your own eggs. Someone I know set up a small henhouse in their back patio, using a rubbermaid storage shed kind of thing that you have to hunch over to walk inside of, and they get like a half dozen eggs each morning, from only 3 or 4 hens.)
. At one of the main farmers markets i go to they have a book where all the farmers have to disclose exactly what products and practices they use, not just that but most the farmers markets around here only let you participate if your organic 
