by Svetlana Konnikova

Popularity of vegetable gardens started around the globe long ago. This spring, First Lady, Michelle Obama decided to digging up a patch (1100 sq.ft.) of the South Lawn to plant an organic vegetable garden. Long before, in 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt realized a need for fresh fruits and vegetables in everyday diet, and created her victory garden in World War II. 

In the new White House organic garden shell peas, shallots, onions, varieties of lettuce, spinach, different herbs, raspberries and even rhubarb will be grown.  The New York Times reported that there will be no beets in Obamas new garden because president does not like them, but arugula will make the cut. Doesn’t he know that the beets are well known superveggies from the time immemorial?!

A new organic garden will provide food for the President’s family’s meals and formal dinners in the White House, but the main goal of the First Lady is to educate children, families and communities about healthful herbs, fruits and vegetables, grown by local farmers.                

It is especially important when obesity, diabetes and other diseases have become a national concern. In addition, growing fresh, organic food locally will lead to healthier and mindful eating. And reliance on huge industrial farms using more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer will be significantly reduced.

As you understand, not everybody has the South Lawn to digg up an organic garden, it is a privilledge of few. Not everybody has a piece of land to plant organic superfoods, but thanks to Swedish scientists. They came up with an idea of creating a Stream Garden. Now you can have your own organic garden, create a green home and healthy lifestyle, save money on expensive organic foods, and our environment overall without owning a piece of land or even having a backyard.

Stream Garden is a small personal garden for your home or office. This miniature of a garden is based on hydroponics. It means that you can fast grow fresh herbs and  plants without soil, but in just circulating water. Hydroponics have been used by NASA on space stations and other extreme conditions, and in commercial green houses around the world for growing cucumbers, tomatoes, other vegetables and flowers. Now you can enjoy eating your own fresh, organic superfoods all year round. By the way, it is a great gift for Mother’s Day, too.

Swedish researchers transferred this industrial cultivation technique into the urban environment and adopted Stream Garden to the needs of working people living in cities. So, now you can have your green garden in your house or office without any worry how to keep your plants in good condition.        

 Stream Garden makes you life easier. The system requires only an electric pump, water and organic fertilizer. Instead of giving your plants water every day, as you usually do when you grow them in soil, all you need to check the water level and refill the pots once a week. There is one condition: every third month you should replace water with fresh and add nutrition for your plants. It is easy to manage, isn’t it?

It is  an excellent solution for people living in metropolitan areas,  big and small cities, in cold or hot, tropical climates, and working long hours outside of their homes, or travelling very often. With Stream Garden there is no worry to keep your plants happily growing and bringing you the best green gifts of nature.

In my next post I will tell you about herbs, fruits and vegetables you can grow in your Stream Garden.

Source: The New York Times, Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House by Marian Burros, March 20, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/dining/20garden.html? ; http://www.greenfortune.com

Photos of White House and Plan of the organic garden are in public domain

Copyright 2009.