A sprig of basil here, a couple oyster mushrooms or cherry tomatoes there… It’s possible to taste home-grown versions of these delicacies even if you live in an apartment! These new urban vegetable growing kits are spreading like fungus! Convenient, ready-to-use, fun, eco-friendly and even sometimes organic, these tiny kits make growing tasty vegetables and herbs a reality, even if you’ve only got a few square inches!
With your kids, rediscover nature’s magic: sowing (for some kits), looking for the proper exposure, and/or misting the growth medium occasionally… Within a few days, growth takes off and results are always satisfactory. Good news: they even grow during winter!
Some kits come pre-loaded with parsley, basil, thyme, bunching onions, sage, rosemary… Others include cherry tomatoes, radishes or even bell peppers, strawberries and celery. And why not prepare one for your herbal tea and infusions, with chamomile, mint or lemon balm? These are some of the many ways to quench that thirst for everything natural.
Gardening stores and specialized websites offer a wide range of innovative growing kits, like batches of edible flowers, herbs and spices for cooking, bouquet garni ingredients and even luscious tomatoes.
With a simple leak-proof polyester garden box and all the ready-grow soil mix, it’s very easy even for a novice to produce amazing veggies! Directions for use often even include recipes, hmmmm!
Other providers have specialized in designer herb growing kits that really catch the eye.
But the most surprising and guaranteed-growing kits are those that host oyster mushrooms: yellow, pink or grayish colored ones, and they’re all stupendously delicious.
Even mini-sprayers are included in the box upon delivery… Usually the purchased growth medium can bear two batches: that’s 2 oyster mushroom, shiitake or button mushroom harvests! Run them quickly with butter in a pan or chop them into mixed salads, they’ll make for a real treat.
Such kits are available online and can also be found in your neighborhood horticulture or DIY store. Actually, you can also quite easily prepare your own personal growing kit if you purchase a few small rooted herb plants and vegetables. Repot them in a miniature hydroponics station which will avoid messy soil mix, pots, etc. Sometimes these hydroponic kits are fully set up and you simply have to plug & grow!
No need to have a “green thumb” of your own anymore, or even a garden for that matter… These surprising, tasty and economical growing kits are definitely worth the splurge, if only to finally have your own vegetable garden in your kitchen for yourself or to share with neighbors!
Claire Lelong-Lehoang
