Growing Organic Greens Indoors: Winter Solstice Update

It's not as though we wouldn't love a hoophouse on a nice sunny lot, filled with cool-weather greens for the tossing.

Challenge is, we live in the city and don't have the space. So we re-use the same SIPs we grow in during the summer, planting them in autumn before bringing inside to sit in a cool-to-cold, south-facing window.

These greens, along with those growing in six other SIPs upstairs,
provide a small salad every other day for two.

Remember when we planted this garbage-picked Olive Garden take-out bowl?

It's bearing greens again.

Chicago's dark, northern hemisphere winter days don't offer a huge amount of sun.

This year these collards and kale will get a boost
from two fluorescent shop lights Bruce is loaning us.

Even on the darkest day of the year, indoor-grown Chicago greens can be harvested and enjoyed with summer rooftop tomatoes. I confess to my twisted plot: let the last of our tomatoes ripen on the counter and eat them as close to year's end as possible.

These tomatoes still taste like summer.

Are you planning to try SIPs next summer? We've got lots of links in the right-hand column and the web is rife with resources. If you have questions, just ask.

It's the winter solstice, and that means the light is returning.