Eating Well Where You Dwell

June 23, 2018

How does living tiny impact the way you eat? Does living tiny mean you give up eating fresh live and raw food? Quite the opposite in fact, for a few reasons. How much you grow and eat will depend on your lifestyle and if you’re traveling with a THOW, which will require a little more creativity.

 A THOW will have some challenges when it comes to preparing fresh food, one for sure is having smaller refrigerator space. This most certainly ensures more frequent trips to the grocery or fresh farmers market if you are close to one, although, to many, this is a good thing. Buying fresh, local and organic has become more of a priority as consumers are becoming more educated, and very popular among tiny home enthusiasts. 

Traveling doesn’t mean you can’t grow some of your fresh vegetables and herbs. Who doesn’t prefer fresh cut herbs like basil and parsley over dried when you’re cooking? But do you buy them or grow them? One solution for me for my future tiny home will be to have a "living wall".   Not only will I have access to fresh healthy greens and herbs, it will help to add a green element of the outdoors to the inside of the home. These indoor vertical gardening innovations are still quite new, and some are still in development.  The price is still pretty-steep being around $1,000, and still seem quite large in-size for a tiny home.  However, there are a few new companies who are creating smaller cheaper more portable models, but we’ll have to give it some time yet, until they’re more readily available. In the meantime, there are plenty of counter-top growing methods available to purchase or if you’re inventive, you can DIY your own indoor methods with pipes, window boxes or resin containers, and a pump.  I would love to see what people are doing in their homes to have fresh herbs and vegetables available to them while traveling, plus it’s a great way for newbies to learn from those who’ve already figured out how to make it work.

Of course, you can always plant small vegetables in portable pots that can be placed outside your home when it’s parked and moved inside easily while moving is an option.  Royce, from New Jersey, who recently visited Tiny Estates, described his method of growing in his current small space. He uses a trickle-down method of planting. Plants requiring more water are planted on the top level in a formed container, and plants requiring less are situated on the bottom and middle levels. When he waters from the top, it will then trickle down into the lower pots. 

Growing a strawberry plant in an upside-down planter is great way of controlling the grow direction and saving space. These can be hung from hooks outside and then also moved inside when your moving your house. Tomatoes also grow well upside down.  Another great idea is the vertical pouches that look like a behind the door shoecaddy. The pouches are made of landscaping material, or another permeable fabric allowing excess water to drain from each pouch and hang on an outside wall of your house. I’m not sure how easily this can be moved inside and stored during transit, but it packs a big punch in terms of growing a lot of variety in a tiny space.

Having a more permanent place to reside in a tiny dwelling offers up much more variety in growing. Window boxes are a great way to plant and add some character to the outside of your house. Rooftop grass helps insulate your home in the winter and cool it in the summer but will come with some strategic planning and you’ll need a roof strong enough to handle the weight. Hopefully, you have some ground space available for gardening and growing. 

It’s certainly going to be a nice addition to the grounds at Tiny Estates, we will be putting in a community garden that will be available to our residents who are staying long term.  Right now, all our guests and residents can enjoy the abundance of Mulberries we have, as there many Mulberry trees on site, they are ripe and sweet and ready to eat!  We are also very fortunate to have plenty of farmers markets nearby, being among so many farms in these rolling hills, you don’t have to go far to get fresh fruits, veggies, milk and cheese. 

Oh, and did I mention that M&M Mars, and Hershey are practically in our back yard?  Being so close and smelling the roasting of cocoa beans, makes it so hard to resist! Okay, it’s off base a little from healthy eating, but who doesn’t want a little something sweet now and then? We would love to see your innovative ideas for growing fresh in your tiny home, mention us on Instagram and show us your goods!